Chapter 13 - CHAPTER - 3 : JUST IN CASE IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT’S HAPPENING OUTSIDE

CHAPTER 3: JUST IN CASE IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT'S HAPPENING OUTSIDE

"How long has it been? Almost 16 years since we have reincarnated in this new world and I am still unable to find Sachi?"

"Princess Alice, we have started a full scale search in the northern kingdoms and have assigned the members to almost all towns, villages and noble districts. I hope we will soon be able to complete this mission and inform you about any of our findings."

The person who just spoke now was a 22 year old lady, all clad in dark robes which would very much resembled a track suit with a hood, was the leader of the Night Shadows I created to search for Sachi, investigate the other reincarnates and keep an eye over all the affairs of the entire human continent and soon extend this observation to the Chaos continent.

"Thank you for your hard work. Even if it is a small clue that you find, please inform me immediately. You may return to your duties now."

"Yes, my lady."

The woman instantly disappeared in her own shadow. All the members of the Night Shadow are well trained in close-quarter combat with a dagger as a main weapon, evasion skills, concealment and possess a rare magic called {Shadow Movement} which allows the user to move around in their own shadows or become one with any dark place.

It could be counted as one of the best skill to be possessed by an assassin or spy and to track down any of their targets.

It has been a month since I felt this small familiar presence in the North and I was sure of it that it was Sachi. After so long for the first time I had a clue and yet this piece of information was not much to go on.

But still, I will not let this disappoint me and instead give my best and not make any regrettable quick decision. As the two of us are in contract, I should still be able to feel her presence in this world till she is alive….

As for me, I Goddess Athena was given a new name ALICE HART.

I was born as the only princess of the Royal Family and second heir to the throne of the Hart Kingdom. My Father Leon Hart - the King of this kingdom and my mother Marciel Hart - the Queen. I also have an elder brother Richard Hart who usually helps father with his administrative work and looks after the foreign affairs.

The people of this land highly respect the royal family and show their love by maintaining public order and being self-aware of the laws. I was so happy when I was born in such a loving family and I was always adored as a little princess by my father, which I am, actually, now. I am always showered with affection and care by my mother and elder brother.

If only Sachi too could be here. Is she all right and living in a peaceful, healthy environment. Does she too have a family to look after her.

Why do I feel like it's my fault that she is not with me. Even though it was my responsibility as a Goddess to look after her, but here I was living a life of luxury and all I could do was send people to search for her. It is not fair for me that only I remain happy.

Even if our faces, names, appearance would have changed but I will still keep on trying and ultimately find her – because that is my responsibility as a friend and a selfish desire to keep her safe and always by my side.

"Goddess of Light and Gods of Fortune and Destiny all I could ask for is to bestow your blessings on her and keep her safe from all adversities."

As for my country the Hart Kingdom is a small peaceful country in the extreme south of the human continent and one of the nearest to the Chaos (demon) Continent. Surrounded by mountains on the north-west border and the vast fertile land spread all over east. The capital city, Lihart is situated at the centre of the kingdom. The country is also known for its vast amount of raw exports from the large ports in the south.

Usually it's peaceful here with less population but there are far more magical disasters and monster outbreaks happening recently which has set the kingdom in a panic state. With little advancement in the military tech and an almost unorganized small army it's difficult to keep everyone safe in this kingdom.

Most of the western land which shares border with the demon continent has turned barren because of the magical disasters followed by monster outbreaks.

It is up to me now to keep this country safe and plan on outsourcing adventurers from other kingdoms while seeking help from the neighbouring lands.

It has also been two months since I have passed from the 'GRINDALWOOD ROYAL MAGIC ACADEMY' situated in the Grindalwood Kingdom.

The best magic academy there is in the human continent. I was a student with a 'healer class' job there and researched on the political and economical aspect of the nations to gain familiarity and respect from other kingdoms by introducing new administrative laws and economical policies to increase the efficiency of the city hall workers and a more effective way to collect taxes while handling information in a discrete way about the tax payers, also keeping in mind about the welfare of the common folk.

Well after all, this was my field of expertise.

In the same year along with me there were other 10 reincarnates with their Gods and Goddesses in contract who graduated the Academy along with me. All of them were considered geniuses of this era, the best batch in the entire history and were considered as the light that would guide this world towards a better future.

With their powerful magic; unheard of, natural talent in combat and weapon wielding as well as their Godly Unique skills made them look like some kind of 'heroes' by the people who witnessed their powers. They all had earned name and fame across nations and had high influence over the masses of their own country.

I am sure; Sachi too could have pulled it off.

All of them were born as the part of royal families in other kingdoms or were the kids of nobles and the General Knight of the kingdom.

While I had kept an eye on four other reincarnates, out of which three took adventuring as their profession from a very young age and were making a name for themselves in the northern parts of the continent and soon were going to make an expedition to the demon continent.

Another reincarnate was deeply involved in some kind of research institute in the Dwarven nation where the dwarfs lived. Basically dwarfs are a considered to be a race of demi-humans with small humanoid bodies.

They are stocky and stout with strong, muscular arms and legs. The typical dwarf male has a large beard, whereas the females do not. They are usually short, obese, and brawny sometimes living inside caves or mountains.

They are famous throughout all lands for their mastery in engineering, craftsmanship, metallurgy and mining work. In this research project they are said to be creating a new powerful weapon to compete against other kingdoms as they are gathering in large numbers underground.

The exact details of this research are still not made public and all attempts to infiltrate the facility made by the Night Shadows have failed. It was a bit concerning but for now nothing could be done about it.

There were still five other missing reincarnates unheard of. There are only two possible cases. Either they are dead or are residing in the demon continent.

As for yesterday the Night Shadows send an awkward report about the get-together party of the reincarnates who graduated from the academy.

Obviously they did not invite me! But that is not the main issue.

The shadows were as usual monitoring the party as they were playing the roles of maid and servants or were either hiding in the shadows maintaining a fair distance so that they don't get caught.

According to the report for the first hour everyone was enjoying their time and was having casual talks. But after a sudden change of environment, all their expressions were disarrayed as if they were afraid of something. Also one of the reincarnates went missing along with their god.

Soon after some heated discussion they left the place and quickly prepared to go back to their own countries.

I need to keep a close eye on them and try to gain more information on exactly what happened during the event.

Well, when they return to their countries their actions will make it all clear, whether this report could be some mistake or the world as we know was about to change.

I looked up in the vast azure blue sky from the balcony of the royal palace of Hart Kingdom; the white birds which were sitting on the barricade covered with climbers as they took a long flight - I made a wish.

"Hurry up Sachi I need you here."

***

INFORMATION BROCHURE

MAGICAL DISASTER

When the Codra Veins protruding out of the Celestial Core of Isleguard which is at the centre of planet starts absorbing large amounts of magical energy and life force from surrounding environment they start moving in response to the stimuli causing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and ultimately burst to the extent of inflicting damage big enough to sink an entire kingdom into the ocean. This releases a vast amount of chaotic energy; unrefined and imbalanced which brings total annihilation to the lands which come under its domain.

CODRA VEIN – These are special projection of living matter from the superficial core of Isleguard which enwraps the landmasses and holds it at one place maintaining the balance and replenishing life energy and magic above the landmasses.

MONSTER OUTBREAK

These are considered accidents and natural disasters caused by nature itself. It usually occurs when dungeons are left uncleared and the monsters eventually grow strong enough to climb the dungeon by themselves. Second cause of outbreak could be a result of a massive increase in the magical density leading to formation of magic wells where monsters breed at a tremendous rate or either there is a dimension warp and they cross to this side from the depths of hell(realm of the dead).

CEREMONIAL HALL IN PERILLUS EMPIRE

"It was so nice of you Kenma to organize such a lavish get-together party, or should I refer to you as the second prince of the great Perillus Empire."

All the 20 attendants of the party started clapping as they lifted their drinks and shouted excitedly, "Cheers to our reunion."

Usually such gathering among themselves were almost impossible and they would keep each other at a distance or try not to get too close to each other as they wanted to save the world by themselves and not share the glory. In other words, keeping their true powers a secret or make bluffs and take actions which are either untraceable or misleads the vulture's eyes.

But after graduating from Royal Magic Academy and turning eighteen the very next-year, they had to train themselves and lay the future work of solving all the problems of human nations and destroying all the monsters while taking full control over the demon continent.

Everyone wore a new dress or suit which would be discarded after the night was past. The moon provided the lighting to the banquet hall in which the event was being held. A collection of violinists, pianists were placed at the far end of the hall and the smell of jasmine was spread throughout.

Today especially they had instructed the chefs to make food that originally belonged to their own country in the previous world which was served by the maids after regular intervals.

The party was in full swing as most of them had formed groups and were talking about the various affairs of their countries and their future plans and sharing their training methods.

Most of them were either sheltered and had always trained under the guidance of a master without getting a scratch from the outside jagged gusty winds.

Some indulged in explaining their special martial-arts techniques, some demonstrated their magic like Natsu Kenchi who could make living puppets out of fire or Sayaka who produced different kinds of beautiful red, purple, crimson flowers from the nearby plants placed inside the pillar hollow almost resembling a huge long vase.

While most of them had started placing bets on Sudo Fujibayashi and Ryuji Ouka who were going to duel each other and prove that whose blade was the strongest and it seems that Ryuji was already on the wining terms with the most number of votes.

CLANG.

CLANG.

And there they went without a second thought, using their skills without any care not realizing their true potential and the sacred oath they carried to use this power only for providing protection and bring down the hammer of justice on those who made others suffer.

All the other Gods and Goddesses were enjoying their drink specially brewed by Diana- the goddess of forest. While Orpheus had started giving the music team a singing lesson while they sat on their folded legs and listened to her godly advice very intently.

In short it was an assemblage of the most talented youths of the human continent who were going to bring change and lead this world into a new future altogether.

Everyone had found what they wanted to wish for after they had completed their mission and had saved the world. But no one knew about the darkness that was burning brightly among them and other special existences that had set their foot in this world who were now lurking in the shadows to checkmate the plans of Almighty World God.

***

HOMURA KENTA (CLASS REPRESENTATIVE)

"Why has everyone stopped moving all of a sudden?"

Everyone had the same puzzled looks on their faces as all the maids and the other working servants had stopped moving. The sweet melody being played in the background too had abruptly ceased at the wrong note. Even the Gods and Goddesses had frozen in their places. Only we 10 students were able to move somehow.

Just a minute ago everything was fine and we were enjoying ourselves.

Was it some kind of a prank, a party-trick or someone was giving a demonstration of their weird magic skill.

Any of them could be right and at the same time all the assumptions made could be wrong. Being affixed to one single obsolete notion does more harm than sticking to none. People needed to change with time if they really want to grow.

That's it; it was as if someone had stopped the time.

By now all the students had started panicking, in our royal lifestyle we never had to face any emergency situation or a crisis. Also the timing couldn't be worse.

"Does anyone know what's happening here?"

"Is someone among us doing all this; then stop this prank."

"It's not funny. Even the Gods have stopped moving. Are we under attack?"

That could be a plausible reason, a third party attack. But who would attack during a party. Everyone knows that even if we are children, we are pretty strong and can hold on our own in a fight even against the strongest enemies. If this is a pre-planned attack then they should have known of our abilities and the risk involved. But for someone who could freeze even the Gods like this, though there power has been influenced, can kill us in an instant.

Just the very thought of the enemy was making me breathe heavily. My body was slowly becoming cold as my blood froze, out of fear. This world is dangerous, I knew it from before. I could feel the temperature of the room rapidly decreasing and the light slowly vanishing as dark clouds covered the moon, while the gentle breeze had turned into cold perilous winds.

Am I going to die?

Even If I want to survive I cannot use my unique skill effectively here. I need to use the help of others and fight off the enemy. Now I realize that the enemy hasn't shown itself yet, considering that this pandemic state of ours was the best time, the killer couldn't ask for a better moment when all were disarrayed and least guarded.

I took a closer look around me and used magic to heighten my senses. The whole room leaked with traces of dark magic, whose colour was so drenched in black that I could even register it as a blind spot in my eye.

Such powerful sinister dark magic, which I had never seen before, just who our enemy is and what does he want. I am sure some of us are good at using holy light magic and even I could use basic spells pertaining to light attribute.

We all were growing impatient. Some of us tried to run away but the door was closed and the windows won't break as someone had casted a very strong barrier to seal us in. Some were trying their best to wake their gods, but it was of no use. They didn't even budge and their hardened faces didn't show any sign of changes.

Some of them had taken out their weapons and had started striking the walls, the roof and the floors but a high level reinforcement spell casted on them withstood all their attacks.

Is the enemy making a joke of us, showing our lack of power and how weak we are? Even if we are blessed by the gods and are the chosen ones – we are not immortal and death is sure in this world which was slowly being torn apart by war and conflicts.

By now the room temperature had dropped to the point that we came close to Natsu who summoned a small bonfire to keep us warm and the room brighten. But even his magic was slowly waning as he had already wasted a lot of MP in one of the duels; in his parlor tricks and the amount of magic particles in the air were excessively scarce.

"What should we do? I have never dealt with such kind of situation."

"Even the gods can't help us now with their divinity."

"The magic is so scarce, that we can't use our weapons effectively which requires channeling large amounts of magic power."

It seems that this barrier had much more to offer, the magic particles were being slowly pumped out from the inside. So our hands were tied in a way.

"Just who is this enemy; if only he appears in front of me then I could beat him to a pulp."

"If you are that strong enough then why don't you take us out of here?"

"What the hell, would you know."

"If my goddess would have been awake then I could use my beast transformation and destroy this place in an instant."

"I am sorry, but if you could not. It's quite an expensive vacation house." Kenma tried to protect his property, but interrupting two girls quarrelling will never make them pay you any attention.

"So, you are saying that you are just a useless brat, who cannot even chew his own food without someone's help."

"How dare you, speak like that?"

After this Tama and Sayaka started pushing each other by shoulder and asking to back off. Everyone was getting tense by the minute and our blood pressure was dropping. It was as if the enemy wanted to toy with us first and then move things to the main scenario.

What am I going to do? I can't die now. After I got such a lavish and luxurious life….. The great strength that attracts attention brings fame, money and women straight to my plate. This is the life I always wanted – a carefree life of a Prince.

And with Goddess Freya's {CHARM UNIQUE SKILL} my pipe-dream had become reality. I will have to make sure to hide in this crowd and escape by making an opening when the enemies attack.

"I know, the school president always has a plan."

"Yes, the school president is very talented in magic. He can come up with something."

Don't rope me in your meaningless talks. How can I fight an opponent who can block all magic and freeze even the Gods?

Also I am more of a supporter type magician with puppeteer skill which works only on opponents weaker than me or have a weak will.

"Yes, Homura please do something."

Suddenly the class girls started begging for my help. When girls grovel in front of me, I can't let it go unnoticed but want to help and in return...

Suddenly Yumiko tightly held my arm as a sudden flash of lightning shook the entire room and we all started shouting. Taken hostage in an anti-magic area with no skill usage was like us being trapped as small hungry rats in a dark room filled with black cats that could kill us at any time with a single slap of its sharp claws.

"Don't worry; I will try to negotiate first with the enemy. If the negotiation fails then, first use fire missile magic to create a diversion, while the close-combat fighter close in for melee and the other magicians will support from rear."

"I knew, the pres. was always reliable."

"Let's kick some intruder's butt."

I couldn't care any less about those intruders and defeating them in a disadvantaged location with people who have never participated in a group combat. How could I trust some bunch of naïve little children who couldn't get enough out of their dreams to become heroes?

Being a hero will be a huge pain, helping other people just out of goodwill and gaining nothing in return except for some half-assed cheers and praises, till the point where people come and ask for help again and again. And after their work is done, they would just say their goodbyes and leave.

I reached the class president chair by climbing over those who were equally able or more superior than me. How did I do that - SIMPLE – just destroy them at what they are good at and hurt them where it pain's the most. Use every opportunity to make yourself shine brighter and more brighter in front of others, because if you don't then people will forget about you, just like it happened once with me…..

Suddenly bad memories which I had forgotten a long time ago surfaced. My mother leaving me behind after my father died. Then my grandmother who let goes off me too.

There are two kinds of people in this world – those who let go and those who are let go. And I was always abandoned.

So I finally made up my mind, I would make others so dependent on me, that they will never let go of me.

But here I was stuck in a very sticky and odd situation where we don't even know who our enemy is or what do they want from us. Whether there is a single individual or are we talking about a whole organization or just a bunch of mercenaries hired by the real boss.

And my sudden outburst of feelings, it's not like me to remember my past which I don't need any more after I have died once. I saw others and they were going through some kind of similar phase. Everyone had that dismal and maddening look. Some were crying while some just looked like empty shells who had drowned and fainted in their own horrid dreams. We were all shrouded with a black mist – some kind of dark magic had been used on us to inflict fear in our mind and cause us heavy psychological damage, making it difficult to make any rational decision.

"Stop screwing with us."

I am not going to give in this easily. I am now a prince of a kingdom and will soon be declared as the king of my country. How can I forget about my ambitions? I will show them, what I am made up of.

They haven't attacked us yet. That means right now, they have no intention to kill or harm us. Maybe they really are here to discuss and negotiate but are first testing our strengths and how far can we endure their evil magic.

"Don't worry we would be able to defeat anyone if you follow my lead. So drop your worries and do what I say." I tried to lift up their spirit in any way I could. If I want to survive then everyone needs to get a hold of themselves and that's the job of a leader to make sure they are ready for any situation.

***

HIORI TKATORI (ARRIVAL OF THE DEVIL)

It was maddening, to see everyone cower in fear. Because of my resistance skills I can counter this fear inducing magic to some extent. At present we cannot use our strong magic spells because we cannot receive any divine energy from the frozen Gods.

Also this freezing atmosphere and the magic particles dropping at a terrific rate was making it even more difficult to get a hold of the situation.

For now, Homura had taken the lead, while I am preparing my bow which is a Legendary Weapon bestowed upon me by my Goddess Artemis. All we need is for the enemy to show up. I can tell this is a pre-set magic spell, I can feel the evil intent and the strong dark magic involved but it lacks the killing aura and also the enemy is a coward to not show up himself. Could one of the students be a part of this plan, after all very few people knew about this party which was planned in haste to begin with. For now I don't have any clue to who can be the insider, so I will not brainstorm over it.

Suddenly the room appeared to get dull and shaggy as light slowly got diffused into the black mist which started appearing from the ceiling. While it was so gross to see some kind of black fluid to ooze out from the wall like that but….

This strong heavy presence, I could feel my energy being drawn out and my body was throbbing with pain and the hairs on my hands stood straight as I froze with goosebumps.

What kind of presence is this; it's filled with murderous intent and is exploding with an unprecedented amount of anger and hatred. Just who in this world is our enemy?

Everyone by now was looking in upward direction as if something Greater was going to descend from another dimension.

"Fear not! We are not here with the attention to harm you, but to talk. It's just as you humans speak, a form of negotiation, indeed." It was a calm deep voice of a being, which didn't sound human at all but was strong enough to strike fear and command obedience in our hearts. To make submit even the strongest.

The dark mist slowly condensed into some sticky liquid in mid-air, still altering its shape by revolving out came a giant person at least 10 feet tall clad in a black robe with a hood covering its face.

In the dark it was difficult to make out the specifications, but with my night vision, I was able to identify two long horns on its head curled at its ends and a chin much longer than it should have been. Then his hands and feet were definitely longer and had abnormally long red claws growing instead of nails. It was obvious that our enemy was not a human but the thing that made me feel disgusted the most was that he was smiling. Smiling at our stupid and unsightful condition of being weak.

"Enemy spotted 2 o' clock, fire at full power."

It seems that the magicians as usual couldn't get enough of their heroic, special, flashy, dazzling spells, so they just went forward and casted them after chanting their spells.

"LIGHT SPEARS"

"You coward, take this. FIRE BARRAGE"

"LIGHTNING ZICKER"

"DIE. DIE. You asshole. WIND BULLETS"

It seems that no one understood the greetings, and as foolish people without measuring his power level they charged in and launched magical attacks.

Before the flashy attacks could have reached the uninvited guest they dispersed in the black mist as if they were snuffed out by a simple breath. It was pointless, as I suspected.

Our average level currently is 620. If our enemy would had been an army then even 2000 strong couldn't have withstood those attacks. I was unable to see anything on his status window, so it was obvious that he was exceptionally stronger than us. But to take those strong magic spells head on and treating them like a small match light that could be put off in a breeze was enough to tell the difference in our level. He was a being in a realm of his own.

While, some had taken the hint from this display and had taken a defensive position casting light magic barriers and self-reinforcement magic. But as usual there are always some rock-headed fools who can't understand without having to face a kick on their faces.

Ryuji jumped forward with his sword and went for the person's head. At the same time Sudo too took out his one-handed sword clad in a white light ran towards the most suspicious person in the room planning to attack from the ground.

"You, cannot escape the reach of my sword. THUNDER STRIKE"

"My sword, siege your glory, for this is the time of our outrage - RAPID LIGHT CLASH."

The true spirit of a warrior doesn't come from just waving around a sword filled with large amount of magical energy but what is most important are the techniques and the passion to wield the sword only to win. But this was far from their understanding.

I was expecting that this strange person would just dodge the straight-forward, easy to read attacks. Since the hit could have been proven fatal, as they were clad in light magic and a bit of divinity after all they were legendary class weapons. All of us have one actually, some are bestowed to us by our Gods, and some got it from the treasure of their country or a family heirloom.

But both of them fell on the ground and their sword sent flying in a direction completely opposite.

"AAAAaargh." "Buarrrghhh."

It seems they are badly injured, as blood flowed out through one of the opening near the waist, while it seems that Sudo's hand has fractured by the impact. Just what in the world did stop their march?

I looked up again and there was another being holding a long golden trident. He too was wearing the same black robe; though it was small, yet it perfectly covered her every body feature from head to legs and even the hands.

No, there was actually three more standing at the back with the same appearances. I couldn't feel their presence until now. Just what is up with this bunch of people? There aura doesn't even seems to be human. What a mess is this, how are we gonna deal with it.

Now it all depends on the next words of the man who was supposed to be their leader and was about to speak.

"How uncivilized. I came here to talk, but humans have never been rational when one is willing to be peaceful during his dealings."

This time it was class Rep who stepped forward to speak. He was afraid too, as it was evident from his whole body shaking heavily.

Usually he is a coward, selfish and self-centered. He doesn't care about anyone and is the most afraid to die. He took on this role to smooth things out; since I know he doubts us, what if anyone else doing the negotiations screws up and puts his life at jeopardy. But for now we had no other choice.

"You have no room to talk, you trapped us here first with your magic and casted some weird abnormalities status on us. How can you expect us to be not wary of an intruder who doesn't even have the courtesy to give his name first?"

"It seems that at least someone here is level-headed, unlike others." This guy was still smiling and with his dead emotionless eyes glanced at our fallen comrades. Then he looked back at us, still his disgusting smile on, at which I wanted to shoot an arrow in any way possible, he continued with his prep-talk.

"My name is ZERO. I am the leader of the Apostles and come from the Realm of the Dead which you may even sometimes refer to as -HELL."

"W-wait do you imply that you are not from this world."

"Exactly, as for these standing beside me are the Generals of the Devil Army both from this world and the Hell. I have come to pay my greetings to the reincarnates from another world and extend a hand seeking mutual cooperation."

At his words we were perplexed and overwhelmed at the same time. The other four were generals of the demon army, at some point later in the future we had to fight them. They were obviously not humans and their status was as usual not visible to us. One of them single-handedly took down the strongest attacks of our two best swordsmen. What kind of power and to what extent do they wield, I am curious to know!

"How did you know that we are from another world? That information was to be kept a secret."

"Well, of course, the four individual you see beside me are from your world and are actually you're so-defined classmates, who decided to follow my leadership and in return I granted them immense, insurmountable power which even you're so called Gods cannot bestow upon you."

There was one surprise after another, he knew of our origins and the other four non-humans are our friends. This night is going to be longer than expected, but maybe time has stopped so in the real world it wouldn't even matter.

All of us were giving off the same vibe of being dumbfounded, ignorant, anger and all these emotions just to hide our greatest feeling – FEAR.

"What do you mean they are our classmates? Why would they even side with you? It would do us some good if you straight come out and state you objective. I am sure you are lying because our friends would never attack us…sooo…oo."

Before Homura could finish his sentence, a black dagger with a sharp edge had almost cut through his neck artery forming a small incision, as a drop of blood oozed out and slowly crawled on the tip of the blade.

It was one of those robe clad generals.

"Akihiko Totsuka. It is really you, we tried to find you but we never could get in touch with you..…"

Before class prep could finish, this classmate of ours tightened his grip on his dagger and pressed it to cut even deeper. Homura led out a shriek but the attacker seems to be pleasured to see blood gush out from his neck.

"Friends you say. WOaahhHH…HAAHAA. We are nothing like that. And don't talk to our Master Zero with such indignity. I won't tolerate it. You all are just some low-race weak scum."

If it would have been our classroom, then he would have been punched by now, but this reunion couldn't get any more violent. No one even flinched. This guy in black robe whose face was easily visible to us by now since the hood was off – was really our classmate.

I too could vouch after looking at his face. Actually all of us never had any problem recognizing each other since we were born with almost same faces and other corresponding body features of our previous life.

But in his case something was different, long red ears, two short horns on his head and a short red tail with a pointed arrow at its head – he resembled like one of the savage demon species because that's what exactly he was.

Apparently he got along well with the class rep, but now he was out for blood. The aura he emanated was making my eyes to stare at him difficult by every second. His strength needed no introduction. His magical powers and physical abilities were evident from the fact that I couldn't even catch his movements when he got hold of Homura.

By far I know he used to be one of those kids, who would follow anyone around, and here he was doing the same but something about him had changed quite a lot. He didn't even give a reason for his hostility but he made it very clear and straight-forward that he wanted to murder us.

"Say Zero, if I kill one of them then it won't make a difference in your plans. Since if they won't join up or listen to our orders then they will only get in our way."

I don't know what to say, but it was too creepy to see someone in real live action – to lick blood on the dagger, as our old-gone classmate started licking the tip of the dagger's blade covered in blood with a delighted expression.

"Joker, why don't you come back here. Stop causing problems for our new companions. They may get too wary of us if you toy with them like this."

The class rep and all of us were disgusted by such a declare of his! But no one dared to even express it on their faces.

"Hey tell me what you did to our friends. Why did you turn him like this? What kind of weird things you did to him to force him to make follow your orders. Explain yourself or we won't sit quietly."

"Master I told you we should just kill them all. These weaklings have no use. I will be more than happy to slowly chop down their necks slice by slice."

We were a bit taken aback to hear someone pass judgement and our death sentences like that. Of course it was a first time, no one just straight comes out and say such a thing to a royal princess, and this was a conglomerate of royal prince and princesses.

"No, I order you to stay back and forbid you from taking actions on your own anymore. As for your concerns, it seems there is a misunderstanding."

Homura was still not fazed and tried to keep up the tough act, because if we give into his temptation then we might be at the end of the losing side of the rope.

"And may I know where I am getting it all wrong."

"You see, they are following me on their own volition. I have not used any kind of force, torturer or taken someone hostage to compel them to do such things. It's just that they actually want to do it, all for my sake and the future of this world."

"As if we will believe you at your word. No one will follow a creep like you if there is nothing in for them. What about their oath of saving this world from creatures like you."

"Oh my! How rude, just can you be? And here I was trying my best to be polite and show generosity. It is a wastage of time so I will come straight to the point. Your friends are exactly doing what their oath says them to do, SAVE THE WORLD. Finally, they have learned the truth about this world and about my great powers with what I desire the most can fulfill all their dreams."

"Truth, of course there is no bigger truth than you being a shady character. Nothing good can come from the mouth of a devil."

Well I whole heartedly agree with the class president since 'What, can the devil even speak true?'

"Oh, these poor unfortunate souls who have been kept in the dark by the Gods of the upper realm for so long, may the truth shine upon them, for the glory of revolution which is about to come."

"Hey don't go us making move in circles. What are you talking about exactly? Enough of your nonsense, I the first prince of Lativania Kingdom demands an answer."

"You are quite impatient for a prince, our class president. It is the friend's job to tell the cold, harsh truth, because the world certainly will! Better to face the demons when you're in school and able to stay alive. HAAHAHAA."

This guy, joker couldn't contain his excitement and butted in like an idiot with his uncanny witch's laughter. At this the Apostle Zero raised his right arm and the joker stopped his creepy act.

"Why would our gods lie to us? They have no reason and have been helping us to achieve what we aspire for. How can you even think of saying such things about those whom you should offer your prayers?"

Now most of the students were voicing their thoughts as they had enough of with this crap.

But things got dicier as we had provoked the one guy in this room who was holding us hostage and could even freeze these gods in a time loop. How did we forget that?

"Your so called ever friendly Gods aren't aware of the truth themselves. It's the Gods sitting at the top and their conspiracy to first reincarnate you and plunge this world into war again to harvest pure energy --- to reinforce this world and retain the glory of Heavens. Such cruel will be your fate if you are still willing to remain ignorant and unaware of the truth. For I shall provide you with all – my power, the truth and the trust of our kind who really wants to save this world."

"Fine then, like this we won't get anywhere. So I am willing to hear you chatter and be quick. But I won't take you on your single word."

At this the mouth of the Apostle Zero curled up. Just what is he planning? Is the truth we know, isn't really the truth, but a falsified tale.

"Oh! You will believe my every word after you have seen this."

A blue crystal appeared mid-air and a red light flashed brightly forming a hologram which resembled our world – Isleguard.

AFTER FIVE MINUTES.....

"How could this be true?"

"It cannot be, we are gonna die at this rate."

"This world is totally messed up and rotten at its core.

"How could they do this to us? Those stupid gods could never be trusted. Getting a new life and a wish to save the world they were all just candies and we grabbed them just because they were considered holy. How foolish can we be?"

"If this is the truth, then I think we should cooperate with them."

At this point the class pres was looking down at the ground, so were all of us. All our dreams would eventually come to an end sooner than expected. Was there any saving this world now, if this was the absolute truth.

"Hey if this is really how this world will end, then what are you going to do about it."

"I am glad you asked. For there is indeed a way we can still save this world and get hold of all the power forces that govern it. Finally vanquishing all the authorities and dominions that the God's hold over it."

"That explains nothing, of your true goal. Don't tell me that you will just spout some nonsense and then leave after having some fun."

At this Zero, brandished both his hands with his long claws curled up, he couldn't look more intimidating. His dark aura was now all over the room and breathing in it was difficult, our energy being drained at the same time ---- as if he was doing all this intentionally.

"I will usher this world onto a new stage – giving it a fresh start. The lives that my people gave up for this world 200 years ago in the Great War, cannot be forgiven after it has been reduced to a more pitiful state under their care. From now I will destroy the life on this planet and start it from fresh with my Generals. For now we shall be the Gods of this new world and fulfill all of our dream – power, luxury, riches, danger, entertainment and authority all shall belong to us."

"Wai…ttt—Y--You will destroy this world. Do you really think you can do that and we will let you?"

"There is no need for you to play as pawn heroes but be the real heroes who can bring the change. For the pillars holding this world have already weathered and we are going to destroy them with much stronger force and built an incredibly strong single pillar that can hold all our dreams true to the eternity. For this beginning shall be the end."

"U—Un-unbelievable, you really think you can pull this off. Destroying the current world and killing all the life forms. The more you think about it the more ridiculous it sounds?"

Most of us had those depressed looks and pale white face; we were all corrupted and plagued by the truth of the darkness.

"I offer you all a hand of cooperation or how about a non-hostility pact and help us usher into this new world and lead the new generation of ultimate species to its glory and grandeur. For if you don't and decide to stand in our way we shall eliminate you for the better future. Your sacrifice as an other-worlderer won't go in vain."

At this Yumiko Furata – the partner of Goddess of Aphrodite – stood from her seat on the sofa and looking in the direction of Zero grumbled as loudly as she could.

"Screw you. I am sure my Goddess Aphrodite will do something about it. I will unveil the whole truth about you to this world and then together we will end you. All the Gods of the divine realm will slay your kind and restore peace." She then took off from the sofa and started walking towards the entrance.

"HOW UNFORTUNATE?" His words were those of pity but he sounded exhilarated and his smile couldn't curl up more than it already had.

"WAAAHHHH."

"AAHHAHaahhHH."

Loud screams could be heard as a head went flying off in the room and the dead body landed on the ground, blood gushed out from the neck like an open hose pipe with a leak in it.

This was for the first time we saw one of our friends die in this world so easily, without a sound and a silent kill. There was no chance of avoiding or dodging the attack. No one saw the attack coming and neither were we prepared to watch it. It all happened so fast that we couldn't even take all the events in order.

Some puked, while some stared at the severed head of their classmate and some turned their eyes away with a heavy heart.

"Why? Why? YUMIKOOOO."

"She is really dead. She is dead."

"Are we all going to die? Just like that!"

"No. Yes-ess. Zero, he will save us."

"But, can we really believe him."

"Fine, fine we will listen to you, till no harm comes to us."

"We are ready to follow you. Just don't kill us. Give us more power and we will save this world not like the old ways but also be its ruler."

All the demon generals behind started laughing in their crude manner and in an eerie fashion.

I still don't know their true identities but can still make a guess of who they can be. Just what happened to their gods and how did they end up with a person like him leading. How did they become this strong in such a short amount of time? There are just too many questions and no answers at all, it's so frustrating.

Have most of them lost their minds. Instead of crying over their friend's loss, they are groveling and moping for help from the killer. But then again there was that fear inducing skill of his still activated and working non-stop. He might just as well be waiting for this planned ending eagerly.

I was too holding back – trying not to lose myself – but these water droplets welled up in my eyes. I know, I know it's okay to cry but somehow I feel I am glad that I am still alive. Is it really my true feeling? Just what have I done to deserve all this?

Even though we were not that good friends but we still helped each other in our studies and sometimes shared lunch during school breaks.

Unforgivable. Unforgivable! I will stop this madness. I will take revenge and show these devils what price they have to pay for showing us this day. This world may as well burn with them.

But if I fight now, I will die. It won't take a minute for them to kill me. I thought I was strong and smart and could achieve anything I wanted, but maybe that was just an illusion. Every time I think of fighting my wild senses tells me to run, run far away and don't look back. Is this cowardice or an instinct of survival – I don't know?

No one now looked up but some of them were facing the walls, some sat on the chair like a sloth attached to a tree while one of the girls had fainted. The gods and other maids were still smiling and laughing in their frozen state. Is this the true face of this world – the truth that was hidden from us that we were about to be used as pawns to start another deadly war on a much larger scale than before.

"I am so happy, to hear your responses. May we grow together and live together. Those who wish to join me will soon receive their directions and I will bestow upon them the true power of realization. For those who want to remain neutral, will be disposed off the moment they interfere in my plans. I hope that all of you will become the seed of the new species that will walk on the new world and rule like a true King. Now we shall be taking our leave."

One of the Generals landed, but no one flinched. We were just too tired. They had already taken everything away from us – our hopes, our happiness, the future we were looking forward to too. We were just too weak and shameless not to face the fiend who dared to kill our classmate and turn some of them against us already.

This general almost looked normal, and for some reason it picked up the frozen body of Goddess Aphrodite.

"Hey where are you taking her?" Homura tried to object.

"Don't bother; she will serve as the source of energy to our plans. Since she will leave anyway after all her contract is no more active."

All four of the generals and the Zero Apostle vanished in the black mist as if they were never here to begin with except for their treacherous black magic traces and the smell of the blood. Also the dead body of Yumiko was missing. They even took that.

The time-freeze spell was lifted off and all the people who were adamantly standing like statues up till now started moving casually.

To our surprise except the gods, all the servants and maids had forgotten about the memories of Yumiko. On being asked, they would just say that they do not know.

Later the same reaction we got from her parents of this world, they refused of ever having a daughter. Such great was the power of Zero Apostle. Is it the best in our interest to join him, remain neutral or oppose him! All of them seems a dead end to me.

"Hey, class what are we going to do now."

"Leave me alone."

"Of course join his side, you saw how strong he is."

"If we oppose him, our own classmates will kill us."

"I will talk about this to my god tomorrow."

"Hey class rep, what are your thoughts about it."

"I am going back, there is nothing left to discuss."

"Hey wait." Okarin stopped Homura by placing his hand on his shoulder.

The class pres looked back and threw off his hand away.

"I said, there's nothing left to discuss. Decide for yourself or are you telling me that you cannot even take a decision for yourself that will decide whether you are going to live or die."

His eyes were dead serious and Okarin couldn't continue what he had in his mind.

"Do whatever you want, just don't bother me." After saying this loudly, Homura left the hall, while Goddess Freya tried to follow her. Since she was unaware of the situation at hand.

Maybe he is too upset with Yumiko's death after all they were close friends.

While some of us explained what happened to our gods, some quickly left the palace without a word, while some were scarred in their minds to the point that they couldn't even speak during the rest of the night.

God is never cruel; there is a reason for all things. That's what I was always told. Now I don't know what to believe. The truth that was told to us by the gods, or the revelation that was shown to us by the devil Zero.

This world is infinitely layered and mysterious. Every day I would visit the forest with Lady Artemis, and we would see far more than I could comprehend, and that always made me feel excited. All I wanted was a simple world, but I now lived in one that is magnificently complex. Complexity implies meaning, and I am afraid of meanings that can uncover secrets. We all have one that we keep it hidden under our various layers of actions we take, the faces we make and the way we feel about it.

In each little life, you will find great truth and beauty, and in each of these lives we get the glimpse of the way of all things work in the universe. That's what Lady Artemis always said to me while she taught me using a bow in the forest that surrounded the northern parts of our kingdom.

"Because we are imperfect beings who are self-blinded to the truth of the world's stunning complexity, we shave reality into paper-thin theories and ideologies that we can easily grasp, and we call them truths. But the truth of a sea, in all its immensity, cannot be embodied in one tide-washed pebble."

"We go wrong the moment we don't admit the unknowable complexity of reality, but we go dangerously wrong when we claim that one pale story – is the ultimate truth. We arrive at the paleness to avoid consideration of the daunting truth in all its fierce color and infinite detail."

***

IN THE PALACE OF PERILLUS EMPIRE

All of the students left on the same night after the fateful visit of the leader of the uprising who wanted to bring destruction to the present world and create a new world of his own desire that can fulfill the wishes of the strong and reject the weak and inferior.

The second-prince as usual was playing his piano, while the first audience seat was taken by a single person sitting on the sofa.

The music ended soon after and the man made a small applaud.

"You really like playing a piano, that's the only time I see you smiling the most."

"It's actually the exact opposite. Playing a piano is the thing I hate the most. In my previous world just because my parents were musicians I was always forced to learn all the instruments. When my parents saw that I had a talent for piano, from that day they kept on pestering me. Always saying to me 'that they expect great things from me.' This and that. But they never actually asked me what I really wanted to do was to become a writer. And now here I am, this smile on my face is because I have combined the two – playing all those fools on my tune and writing a new story of how this world will eventually come to an end so that a new dawn of creation arises."

"Maybe, there is still more I need to learn about you and your wicked habits."

"As if you are one to talk."

Both of them started laughing while the pianist took a seat on the chair placed in front of the sofa adjacent to the table.

"And all the students fell for his talk. It was quite hilarious to see some of them grovel. Hiding my laughter while making a foolish face is indeed a difficult task."

"But you did laugh in between."

"I see you were not frozen. His power is ineffective on you after all, as expected from the God of Darkness. But Zero put quite a good show. Also one of the reincarnator is already out of the race."

Both of them started laughing while they were drinking their tea in a dim lit room with candles burning above the small brick table over the fire kiln of the room. Kenma Takeshi – the second prince of Perillus Empire and his God in contract Erebus – the God of Darkness just couldn't stop smiling.

It had been a day since the get-together party.

"Your plan did indeed work well. However they might get suspicious of someone from inside their circle already operating with Zero."

"I have already taken that in account and it works in our advantage. They will be suspicious of each other and wouldn't be able to cooperate or trust anyone. There last resort will be Zero's Company. They will never figure out that the whole thing was setup by us."

"This world is already falling apart just like 200 years ago and at a much faster rate this time. More appearance of strong monsters, catastrophes, monster outbreak, dungeon appearance and magical disasters have been happening all over. Then there are humans who engage in conflicts and meaningless wars and fight over financial assets and authority even among themselves."

"It was a blessing to be born a year before the others and giving me a chance to meet Zero and plan to make a new world to live for ourselves. I will be the god of my own world that I created myself. I have always dreamt about it and nothing less will please me. After lots of planning it's finally going to come true."

Erebus made a gesture of bowing as if complimenting him about his dream and desire to become a much greater god himself by creating his own world.

"Had it been not for you to notice that the Tree of Life's fruit was missing and the World God was behaving suspiciously about it then it would have been difficult for me to believe you."

"The fruit of tree of life is essential for the survival of divine realm otherwise the god's will lose their powers slowly. Recently the tree of life had been rejuvenating after the destructive blow it took during the Great War 200 hundred years ago. No, one knows whether we can now even depend on it for our survival."

"That is where we come in picture, the reincarnates from another world, who in the hopes of saving the world will slowly bring the chaos of war to the whole world. It doesn't matter which sides will win, but the energy released from the souls of the dead, their anger, resentment, jealousy, wickedness, sorrow, loss, suffering and fear will work as fresh nourishments for the Tree. The End."

"Truth is the Gods never had the intention to give us the chance to survive, but would rather bet on our deaths and make us the martyr hero. But I have no intention to give up on life this easily. I will take everything the people, this world and all the power it holds. Maybe after becoming the gods of this world we can go after other worlds. Of course, because of the non-interference policy adopted by the World God we are free to reign like we want to. It is his fault to put a nail in his own shoe."

"As far as I remember Hashima was not there."

"You mean the contract reincarnator of Poseidon. Well Zero sent him on a mission to take control of the North-Western Seas. To raise pirates and stop communication between the Demon continent and the Human continent is his mission."

"There is one final matter to address to – Goddess Athena."

"Don't worry about her. She is just a weakling. All she is good at are making policies for the government and some impressive healing skills. She lacks in combat potential and has no need in the new world. She does not even pose any problem for us so we will let her enjoy her sweet time. Even if we took her, I don't think she is worth enough to even provide with the minimum amount of divine energy to proceed with our plans."

"It is hilarious to think that it had been more than sixteen years and she is still not able to find her partner. She has stained herself with the sin of abandoning her duties and has given the proof of her incompetence and weakness."

"Now, now, Erebus don't be so harsh on her she is a very beautiful princess of a Hart empire, though small, it is quite close to the Demon continent and can play a major role during the battle between the two major races. I think it's not right to blame her."

"What do you mean? Do you think there is some other reason to concern for?"

"It's funny if you put it that way. As far as I remember her partner is a total klutz. She is weak, has no self-respect and is so afraid that she can't even communicate with others. Even her soul power during the reincarnation ceremony was so weak, to the extent that it could be put out by a single blaze of wind. I am sure that she is already dead, there's no way she can survive here in this world. And even if she is alive, with her skills she would not be able to even use magic or lift a sword. There are so many times we told her goddess, in the academy to give up on her, as she would be already dead, or too afraid that just like before she had closed herself away from this world."

"And here I got worried for nothing."

"HAAAHA. Just loosen up a bit or you will grow old sooner than expected. We have other things to set-up to, remember. Things from here on are only going to become more interesting. The people of this world have become too carefree and corrupt with time. So now it is time to pay for their crimes."

KNOCK.

KNOCK.

"You have permission to enter."

An attendant in a white and red soldier uniform entered the room holding a scroll document in his hand he bowed down offering the scroll ----

"This is a message for the Second Prince of the Perillus Empire and his step-brother the third prince from the second princess."

I took the scroll and asked the messenger to leave. For those who don't know Erebus is my step-brother in this world.

"What it is about. Siesta has been missing from the palace and we don't know what she is up to."

"For God's sake, she actually took an army of 10.000 soldiers and is going to launch an attack on the north-western Demon Continent near the Kanandra Mountains and subjugate the small beastmen villages that have emerged and take them as slaves."

"Maybe our encouragement had a much larger affect on her. What do you think of it?"

"Well let's see, the more people die the better. War is inevitable after all. If this is what the God's of the Upper Realm want then let them have it!"

INFORMATION BROCHURE

BENEFICIARY DIETY JOB PROFILE

HOMURA KENTA FREYA GODDESS OF LUST

NATSU KENCHI PROMETHEUS GOD OF FIRE

SUDO FUJIBAYASHI ARES GOD OF WAR

SAKAMOTO SANDA CHRONOS GOD OF TIME & ETERNITY

RYUJI OUKA TAKEMIKAZUCHI GOD OF SWORDS

OKARIN OOSHIMA HERMES THE MESSENGER GOD

KANATA AIZAWA HEPHAESTUS THE SMITH GOD

AKIHIKO TOTSUKA LOKI GOD OF MISCHIEF

HASHIMA KATSURAGI POSEIDON GOD OF SEA

KENMA TAKESHI EREBUS GOD OF DARKNESS

INFORMATION BROCHURE

BENEFICIARY DIETY JOB PROFILE

HIORI TAKATORI ARTEMIS GODDESS OF HUNTING

YUMIKO FURATA APHRODITE GODDESS OF LOVE

SAYAKA TENMA DIANA GODDESS OF FOREST

AKANE KIRIGASHI ORPHEUS GOD OF MUSIC & POEM

SATOMI YUKTA IKELOS GOD OF NIGHTMARES

SAKURA KENDO ASTAREA GODDESS OF JUSTICE

TAMA DONJO OVA GODDESS OF BEAST

SAKI HONDA ENYO GODDESS OF BLOOD

KARIBA CHIYODA KALI GODDESS OF DEATH

SACHI KONDO ATHENA GODDESS OF KNOWLEDGE

STUDENT DIARY

KENMA TAKESHI

NAME : LUCAS PERILLUS

AGE : 18

RACE : HUMAN

LEVEL : 1980

HP : 14000

MP : 20000

SP : 12000

UNIQUE SKILL : DARK MATTER CONDENSATION

SKILLS : [DARK MAGIC LV 7][FIRE MAGIC LV 5][WIND MAGIC LV 5]

[MAGIC RESISTANCE] [REGENRATION] [DEATH MARCH]

[SHADOW STEPS] [FEAR INFLICTION]

TITLES : DRAGON SLAYER , THE ENVIOUS ONE

DESCRIPTION :

GOD IN CONTRACT - EREBUS – GOD OF DARKNESS

Second Prince of Perillus Empire

At present is assisting Zero in his plans and trying to bring everyone in class on board. Both Zero, him and Erebus are planning on becoming the Strongest God of this World and rule over the strongest species in the cosmos.

STUDENT DIARY

HOMURA KENTA

NAME : KEITH LATIVAN

AGE : 17

RACE : HUMAN

LEVEL : 880

HP : 9000

MP : 14000

SP : 8000

UNIQUE SKILL : CHARM

SKILLS : [FIRE MAGIC LV 4][WIND MAGIC LV 5]

[WATER MAGIC LV4] [HYPERVELOCITY] [MAGIC SENSE]

[MAGIC RESISTANCE] [REGENRATION]

[PRECOGNITION]

TITLES : ILLUSIONIST

DESCRIPTION :

GOD IN CONTRACT – FREYA – GODDESS OF LUST

First prince of Lativania Kingdom

Shows no interest in saving the world but have good leadership skills and managing combat data and analysis. The knowledge of the truth has totally crushed his peace and watching a friend die has made him emotionless.

STUDENT DIARY

AKIHIKO TOTSUKA

NAME : ZANDER LIFT

AGE : 17

RACE : RED DEMON { DEVIL HYBRID}

LEVEL : 3000

HP : 20000

MP : 25000

SP : 24000

UNIQUE SKILL : CARD WORLD

SKILLS : [FIRE MAGIC LV 9][DARK MATTER MAGIC LV 2]

[EARTH MAGIC LV7] [HYPERVELOCITY] [MAGIC SENSE]

[MAGIC RESISTANCE] [FAST REGENRATION]

[STEEL BODY] [EMPOWERMENT]

TITLES : THE TRICKSTER FROM THE BOTTOMLESS PIT

DESCRIPTION :

GOD IN CONTRACT – LOKI – GOD OF MISCHIEF

Whole clan was hunted down by other demons for the tribe's cannibalism over demons, humans and other races too.

Are put under monster class – humanoid {threat level – S class}

Currently one of the five-demon generals of Zero's Army.

STUDENT DIARY

HIORI TAKATORI

NAME : CATARINA ALUCRAD

AGE : 17

RACE : HUMAN

LEVEL : 900

HP : 12000

MP : 16000

SP : 10000

UNIQUE SKILL : ORION ARROW {ABILITY PARTIALLY LOCKED}

SKILLS : [FIRE MAGIC LV 4][WIND MAGIC LV 5] [ICE MAGIC LV 6]

[CAMOUFLAGE] [CLAIRVOYANCE] [MAGIC SENSE]

[MAGIC RESISTANCE] [REGENRATION]

[POINTER] [WOOD MAGIC LV2]

TITLES : THE JAGER ON THE WIND

DESCRIPTION :

GOD IN CONTRACT – ARTEMIS – GODDESS OF HUNTING

First princess of Alucrad Empire

Is considering showing neutrality, but has decided on uncovering the full plans of Zero.. Is also worried for not being able to use her unique skill at its maximum power because system level requirement not reached.