n

n

nI didn't know why, but at this moment I felt his eagerness towards that matter to be quite sincere. He wanted me to join, not only him it seemed.

n

"I can't promise you that,

" as he loved to play games with me, I also placed one leg over another while adding,

"you still didn't convince me to join your pantheon.

"

n

"You won't find any other suitable pantheon ready to support you like us,

" he said and his tone didn't even change at all. As if he wasn't startled by my clear rejection, or even anticipated it!

n

"I can wait and more pantheons will reach out for me,

" I didn't show any worry at all,

"after all as there is a unified death pantheon for human race, then there must be other unified pantheons as well, like life pantheon.

"

n

"Humph, they won't be any good for you,

" he scoffed,

"you are a death walking on earth for your enemies. The best pantheon to suit you is ours.

"

n

"You have a point indeed,

" I didn't argue directly with him, but added as if I was seriously thinking about what he just said,

"but in that case then the pantheon of war is more suited for me, right?

"

n

"Those…

" Nero seemed to be about to lose his calm but he controlled himself and didn't add more. At this moment I knew all this, all this calmness and all this high attitude was a fake.

nHe was nervous… he wanted me to join the death pantheon.

n

"Indeed they suit me better,

" I was about to stand before the staff in his hand had its jackal's eyes shine brightly in golden light.

n

"One moment,

" I could see wisps of black gas coming out from the eyes of that jackal and merging with the black fog covering Nero's face.

nI could tell that someone was speaking with him.

n

"Alright,got it,

" he said while the staff in his hand returned to normal again.

"Let me ask you another question, what's the difference between high grade gods and low grade ones?

"

nI smiled in confidence while saying:

n

"The low gods were once humans, just like yourself. They did great things in their lives and ended up being selected by higher gods to carry on their legacy.

"

n

"And the higher gods?

" his tone didn't show any agreement or refusal to what I said.

n

"They are the real gods worshipped by any human society through our long course of history,

" I added,

"so we can call them the true gods, the owners of the pantheons.

"

n

"Interesting,

" he said before looking at the staff as if he was relaying a hidden message or something.

"I never imagined for a human at this stage of the apocalypse to know such a secret. You are worthy to know more then…

"

nI didn't know if he was talking to me or to himself, but if he was going to say more mysteries then I'd never interrupt him.

n

"In one way this might be true, but you deserve to know more,

" he snapped his fingers and this time the entire world around us changed.

nThe sky that was all still even when I was walking towards here started to change. Stars shone and others dimmed, while parts started to show strange scenes.

nI didn't recognise anything from these scenes, yet strangely I felt familiar. All I could see were flashes of places that seemed to not belong to Earth.

n

"I believe you already guessed this… Humans aren't only living on Earth. In the entire universe, there are many worlds where humans live,

" he started to point his staff towards the sky while scenes started to grow clearer.

nI could see the scene flashing speed getting decreased, and thanks to that I now saw many human faces. They were all fighting, fighting against races I knew and others that I didn't.

n

"But in the entire universe humans never lived in a world as the sole race. That means Earth is special, not only to us but to many other races as well.

"

n

"Why is that?

" I asked without turning my eyes away from the sky. What I was seeing up there was like an entire new world that I never knew of before.

n

"Because humans are stubborn,

" Nero said, in a tone that held much pride than confession,

"no matter how the races standing against us are strong or giant in physique, we always proved to be a worthy opponent. Not to mention we already conquered many worlds in previous apocalypses.

"

nI noticed the scenes shifted and showed many humans crying out in victory. I saw tears, blood, wounds, exhaustion, but all of the faces carried only one simple and clear emotion… They were happy, that kind of happiness that carried tons of pride after a long struggle.

n

"Why are you telling me this?

"

nAs the scenes showed me these moments which I knew were parts of the long past of the human race, the sky returned to its stillness and all the lights vanished.

n

"Because you need to know that high grade gods aren't just gods coming from our Earth, but from other human worlds across the universe,

" he slowly said before adding,

"and that might explain to you why someone like me coming from the roman pantheon is speaking with you while following another civilization pantheon god.

"

nI could understand what he was speaking about, and yet there were many things that didn't add up.

n

"That doesn't mean I shall follow your death pantheon,

" I said,

"if this was the truth, then other pantheons will be also like yours. Then why should I follow you?

"

n

"Weren't you confused before about that black energy coming out from your feet?

" instead of answering me, he asked.

nI fell into silence without saying anything. After all this was indeed a mystery, but why should it be related to what I asked?

n

"It's simply because your class already determined your future,

" he shrugged as if he was speaking about something already sitting in stone,

"the class you have is considered part of the death pantheon. So it makes more sense to follow our pantheon, not any other one.

"

n

"So this is why I'm diffusing such black energy?

" I pointed to the trail that was still present till now,

"but that doesn't mean I can't accept other pantheon blessings, right? I can either start off with another pantheon then continue with yours, or vice versa.

"

n

"Unfortunately that can't be done,

" he shook his head before adding,

"once any race selects a god, he or she will be bound with that god's pantheon to the end of his life. In certain conditions, such a rule can be broken, but that doesn't apply to you.

"

nWhat he said before was something, and what he just said now was something else. When I heard what he said I couldn't help but widen my eyes while feeling shocked.

n

"I won't settle myself with a low god like you for such lame rule,

" I said before standing up,

"if this rule is true, then go back and tell whoever sent you to select a higher grade god. I will see myself back.

"

n

"Wait,

" Nero shouted in distress,

"I'm not here to tell you to follow me, but to take your agreement about following us.

"

n

"And you got it,

" I looked at him without sitting back again,

"tell them I already had my conditions laid on the table. I don't need such protection against the star weapon at this moment, but I'm a man of my words.

"

n

"Hahahaha,

" all of sudden he broke into a strange wave of laughter. What? Did I say some sort of a funny joke or what?

"Do you think you got your chariot out of coincidence? Was it pure luck?

"

nI didn't know why but when he said these words, I couldn't help but inwardly tremble. Damn gods! Did they have a hand in what I gained back at the auction?

nI recalled what I experienced. Nothing seemed out of order at all. Everything happened smoothly and without any signs of any kind of interruption at all.

n

"I never expected a god to be a liar!

"

n

"Sit first,

" he didn't seem insulted by what I said, and instead he invited me back,

"tell me, in all the events that are related to that chariot of yours, which one that seemed a bit fishy?

"

n

"Nothing,

" I sat back and shrugged,

"everything doesn't have any evidence of your help whatsoever.

"

n

"Let me show you then…

" he suddenly paused before his body got shrouded in a thick veil of smoke. It was a familiar scene, the same kind of smoke that covered all the bodies that attended the Bringold auction.

n

"Bro, do you think phoenixes are all females?

"

n

"...!!!

"

nThis time my shock was immense and genuine. That sound, these words… they all pointed towards a certain person… that friend who I got back from the auction, the male phoenix.

n

"It was you?!!

" I asked while trying to control my inner shock.

n

"It wasn't me,

" he returned to his normal self before adding,

"that was one of our people. You were right to suspect a phoenix had males, that's not totally true.

"

n

"What do you mean?

" when I realised I got played in such a way, I couldn't help but raise my vigilance towards the entire god community.

nIn fact I only knew gods to be those rich dudes acting as our sponsorship. They loved to play, have fun, nothing serious at all.

nBut this time… I got played! They did it in such a brilliant way that didn't get my suspicion stirred up even for a brief second!

nBrilliant! That was simply a brilliant act by them!

n

"The one who stood by your side is part of our death pantheon. In fact he isn't considered part of our human death pantheon, but part of the black phoenixes death pantheon. Yet our two races and pantheons shared a lot of similarities and deep friendship ties. So he can be considered to be sent by us.

"

n

"I don't understand,

" I just wanted to know more,

"was he sent by you or not?

"

n

"Of course he was,

" Nero firmly answered,

"we needed to send someone that won't attract suspicion at all. So sending a human there was out of the question. And in the end you got what you asked for, right?

"

n

"But he wasn't the one to give me the chariot,

" I admitted that this move was brilliant, and I got fooled. But come on, the chariot didn't come from him, but from that arrogant dragon archlord who lost the bet with me.

n

"Who do you think stirred up trouble first and set the stage for you to have that bet with that dragon race one?

"

nOnce I heard it, I couldn't help to see the entire scheme at last. Damn! That was why that phoenix dude was dead fixed on butting word by word that arrogant dragon at the auction.

nIf I removed that phoenix from the picture, then the dragon wouldn't have said something to stir me up. The bet wouldn't have happened, and I wouldn't have won the chariot.

nWait a moment…

"Were you betting back then?

" I couldn't help but ask. Even if such a scheme was brilliant, it still held many variables inside.

nIf one thing took a wrong turn, then I wouldn't have gained my chariot at all!

n

"Betting is a fun thing to have,

" Nero laughed before adding,

"and there are many hidden things in play that you don't know about. Anyway, you asked for a price and we fulfilled that price for you. Now you shall honour what you said before.

"

n

"I won't accept the support of a low grade god like yourself, no offence meant.

"

n

"None is taken,

" he shrugged,

"as I told you earlier, I'm just a messenger. As for the identity of the god who will be your sponsor, the pantheon will decide when you end the upcoming quest… However…

"

n