n

n

nI already lost any hope about getting contact from that mysterious god. But now he was inviting me in such a way I never knew before.

n

"What's wrong?

" the jumper noticed my sudden pause and asked.

n

"Have you heard before about anything called a trans-apocalypse invitation?

"

n

"Does God decree an invitation to visit? Damn! He contacted you already?

"

n

"So you know what that's all about,

" I felt a little relieved. Despite knowing that gods wouldn't do such low tricks of drawing me to a trap, but also accepting something I knew nothing about was another issue.

n

"Accept it,

" the smart jumper read my mind,

"don't waste time here. Every second counts at such an invitation. And…

"

nHe suddenly paused, looked around like he was fearing someone would hear what he was going to say. Dude, come on! Drop this slightly obsessive cautious nature of yours. We were all here in the same camp!

n

"When you are there, try to do anything and exchange coins for precious items.

"

nEven under his ugly mask I saw him winking. That bastard! He seemed to have had such an invitation before or else how could he end up giving me such a hint.

n

"Alright,

" as it looked safe, and with his urging attitude, I simply accepted the invitation.

"Stay on lead here, don't let anyone come closer to the chariot. Also if the dragons came back, let them tell you about the places they found and try to draw a detailed map using the others knowledge…

"

nMy words were interrupted as a flash of light surrounded me all of sudden. A storm of black energy surrounded me like a typhoon before everything vanished and my last words went to the air with this.

n

"Sigh, I hope he knows what he shall do,

" I thought I'd take more time to come here. But it seemed that the invitation worked like magic, taking me in a few blinks to this new place.

nI felt like I was standing in a never ending sky full of stars. The sky was dimly lit, something similar to the sky of my world.

nI stood in front of a long road filled with stairs. Despite it having stairs, I felt like it wasn't going up, but simply going forward.

nAnd at the end, I saw a big rounded platform, lined with a big wall, and the platform was carried on thick dark clouds. Silence prevailed here and I couldn't help but feel the invisible pressure coming from that direction.

nDamn! Was I invited here by a high grade god? Really?

n

"Come forth,

" a deep voice filled with strange pressure and majestic domineering came from that platform. Yes, that god who invited me here was waiting for me there.

nThe moment I started to walk, I felt a strange thing. The stair road was made of white blocks of pure marble. Yet with each step, it seemed like black energy flooded from my feet like I was spreading a plaque!

nJust seeing this scene made me ponder, wasn't this similar to that black energy which appeared when I took control over that emblem or what?

nBut I felt nothing else, no pressure, no threat, or even any changes happening thanks to my uncontrollable black energy.

nWhen I looked back, I noticed that the wave of blackness my feet created before slowly faded away. The tiles of the stairs returned to their pure white colour, like nothing just happened.

nI didn't know how long I walked, but the more I walked the more bored I became. The scenery around me never changed, like I wasn't walking at all!

nIf not for that platform to become bigger, I would have sworn that I wasn't walking at all.

nAs I got closer after an unknown period of time, I finally saw the inside of the platform even before arriving there.

nThe platform was the size of a football stadium. It was circular, and it was lined not by a wall like I imagined, but with large and standing shoulder to shoulder statues.

nAll I could see from far was the black colour of the statues. But when I finally was less than a hundred metres away, I could finally see their details.

nThey weren't all made entirely of black ore, only most of them were. They got golden thin lines that kept shimmering in light like beating heart, in regular rhythm.

nEach statue might reach to a hundred metres tall, a gigantic wall made entirely of identical statues that carried the same face; a jackal face!

nJust seeing this face made me instantly recognise that god… Damn! I ended up with one of the mighty gods from the Egyptian pantheon, a higher god to begin with, Anubis god!

nHe was the god of death, one of the famous neters of Egyptian mythology.

nWhen I arrived at the platform, I could finally see everything in more detail. The eyes of the statues seemed alive, not just the eyes of carved stones. And each eye was in pure gold colour, giving me goosebumps to be honest.

nEach statue carried a long thin staff that was made entirely out of golden ores. But when I came up there I noticed that the tops of these staffs were different.

nSome carried symbols, others carried heads of animals and birds. So these statues might seem alike on the surface, but each represented something and had a different purpose and meaning for sure.

nAside from those gigantic statues, the entire platform was empty except from two seats made out of pitch black ores.

nOne seat was big, much bigger than the other. One was for me, and the other was for that giant sitting cross legged and leaning his head over one hand while watching me in interest.

nWas he that famous Anubis god? I didn't know the answer but everything around told me he was!

n

"Come,

" that giant god motioned at me to come and sit opposite to him. He held a small cup that was filled with pure red wine. Yet it was small in his hands, but in my eyes it was big!

nAs I walked, the platform that was covered by pure white tiles started to get tainted by my black energy. This time my energy didn't fade away and remained, creating a long trail of blackness marking my path.

nDidn't know why, but even though I should have felt uneasy at this moment from such a scene, I couldn't help but feel somehow attached to this.

nIt was like something deep inside me was resonating with what was coming out from my feet.

n

"Surprised?

" the god spoke when I sat on that stony seat. Unlike what I expected, it was comfy and not rigid at all.

n

"I don't know why such energy came out from me,

" I honestly said.

n

"You'll get to know many things, but all in time,

" the god took a sip from his cup before adding,

"now let me ask you something, who do you think I am?

"

n

"God of death, Anubis?

" I blurted it out as if this was an easy puzzle to solve.

n

"Interesting,

" his eyes shone, but strangely I couldn't see his face clearly. There seemed to be some sort of a black fog that veiled the upper half of his face.

nAnd when he just said that word, his two eyes shone all of sudden like two embers of fire.

nSeeing his face in such a state made me feel a little fear for the first time since coming to this world.

n

"I have to say you are wrong and right,

" a white marble table appeared out of nowhere when he placed his cup over the air. He left his cup there before leaning more comfortably over his seat and the next instant that table vanished with the glass.

n

"I'm not Anubis, but I'm here on his behalf,

" he slowly said.

n

"Then who are you?

" if he wasn't Anubis and was just a follower of him, then that meant he wasn't a high god like I expected.

n

"I'm called Nero,

" he paused as if he was watching my reaction. And my reaction was really unsightly to see.

n

"The roman emperor, Nero?

" I asked just to make sure I heard him right.

nAnd he simply nodded without saying anything.

n

"A low god like you is trying to scheme me in this way? Humph, you should have known better!

"

nWithout any speck of hesitation I stood up, turned my back and was about to walk. Yet what he said forced me to stop and even return back to my seat.

n

"Aren't you eager to know how a god following the roman pantheon is related to an Egyptian pantheon neter?

"

nIn fact I had this doubt once he declared his identity. But I didn't care about the reason as I cared about his identity. He was a low god, not a higher god.

nAfter all this waiting and planning, I ended up getting such an invitation from a lowly god? That wasn't acceptable for me!

n

"You have one minute to explain yourself,

" I sat back but didn't change the look on my face,

"or else I'd leave.

"

n

"Then let me ask you this…

" he adjusted his body while snapping his fingers before a long staff made out of pitch black ore appeared in his hand next.

nIt was similar to the one held by the many statues of Anubis in here. And it ended up with the head of a jackal, symbolising Anubis.

n

"How come the gods following your channel never made a single move since you gave them that interesting offer?

"

nYes, this was another puzzling point indeed. If this offer came from such a low god, then why were the others acting like scaredy cats in front of him?

nI was sure there were more than enough higher grade gods than this emperor here.

n

"Let me tell you something you don't know,

" like seeing an interesting show in the ancient colosseum, he gave me such an impression while watching me,

"I'm not here on my behalf. I'm here to represent others.

"

n

"Others?!

" I asked with much disbelief than doubt.

nWhat is meant by others here? They must be gods, higher grade gods without doubt.

n

"Are you here as a messenger representing Anubis god?

" I asked again, trying to make sure I got what he hinted right.

n

"Not quite right,

" and he shrugged, paused intentionally before leaning forward and magically that marble table appeared again with the cup he placed before out of thin air.

nHe took his time, that damn god! He raised the cup with wine, even moved the cup a little to create a small move in the wine. He even sniffed it as if he didn't know what he was drinking!

nAs I was growing impatient by each passing second, I didn't open my mouth and say anything. If he wanted to play such a game of patience with me, then I'd welcome him with open arms.

n

"I'm here representing the human race pantheon of death,

" he finally said.

n

"Human race pantheon of death?

" but what he said made me more puzzled,

"I never heard before about such a thing.

"

n

"That's normal,

" he took in another sip from his wine before adding,

"this is considered a high end secret that not many are supposed to know.

"

n

"And you are telling me this because…?

" I paused while waiting for him to place the cup again on the table before the two vanished like before.

n

"The human race pantheon of death is highly valuing you,

" he said,

"but you have to know that this is considered top secret for a reason, right?

"

nThat former emperor… He seemed to love shifting topics and acting mysteriously like that!

n

"What do you mean?

" you didn't expect me to nod over something I barely understood. That didn't make any sense!

n

"There is something big to force the gods of different civilizations to join up together, right?

" he slowly said without exposing much info.

n

"Why not say everything at once so I can understand?

" yet his attitude started to get on my nerves.

nI dunno why, but he reminded me of the jumper at this moment.

n

"And where is the fun in that?

" he laughed as if he heard a joke,

"besides, there are many things that shouldn't be known to common people.

"

n

"Didn't you just say the death pantheon highly values me?

"

n

"Indeed,

" he nodded and that added more to my puzzlement,

"but you didn't yet join us, right? What do you say, wanna join us now?

"

n