Back at Ysion's Universe, in the forest near the kingdom Everiel, clouds could be seen churning above as a dense fog prevailed over the entire forest.
Countless corpses of Humans, Elves, Beast-man, and even Monsters alike lay unmoving on the ground, the aftermath of a great battle. The cries of crows were the only thing that could be heard throughout the deadly silent plain.
The Army Alliance led by King Leon had managed to repel the Undead army of the dark mage Mavel, though the price they paid was heavy, they nonetheless were able to further push them towards the depths of the forest.
King Leon himself had not left the battle unscathed, inside a giant war tent s distance away from the previous battlefield, he could be seen seated on top of a giant throne chair, his upper body full of bandages as stains of blood could be seen tainting them scarlet.
His gaze was blank as he held his head in both hands, constantly muttering under his breath.
"Where are you, Ariel? When are you coming back?"
The old king was tired, ever since his daughter had left for the Golden Gate years ago, his heart always felt empty. He should have held her back, he should have never let her get out of his sight.
"My God, please...bring my daughter back to me." He suddenly collapsed, his eyes filled with tears as he pleaded.
Ever since her disappearance, Leon had never lost faith, he knew that Ariel was blessed by the Great God Ysion himself! His only wish was to see her before his time was up, to hold her in his arms once again.
Hearing the loud thud, a couple of his close royal guards hurriedly made their way inside the tent from outside.
"My King!" They both shouted as they rushed to his aid, before helping place him back on his chair.
"My King, please take better care of your health!" pleaded one of the royal guards.
"Princess Ariel would never have wanted to see you like this." Added another. Hearing that the king's eyes suddenly blazed as he turned to shout at the royal guard.
"She is not dead! Do not speak about her as if she is dead! She is blessed by the great God Ysion himself!!" He yelled out.
"My King...what God? The Gods have long since abandoned us..." Replied the royal guard with a sad expression.
"Enough! What do you know!? Leave!" shouted the King before breaking off into a fit of coughs.
"My King!" Called out the guard in concern as he moved closer to check on him.
"Leave!" ordered the king even louder.
Giving off a quick military salute, the royal guards hurriedly made their way out of the tent.
"Why the hell did you say that?!" Asked one of the guards.
Shaking his head, the second one replied. "Look around you, there are no Gods in this forsaken land, only monsters." He said before shaking his head.
Looking at the camps in their surroundings, various Humans, Elves, and Beast-man could be seen sitting down with dark expressions filled with despair, most of their eyes seemed to have long since forgotten hope.
Ever since the Alliance Army had come to this forest they have only been facing one defeat after another, their latest victory could barely be considered one as they had lost more men and women than they could count.
The death mage Mavel had yet to make a personal move, she simply kept commanding her undead monsters to attack them, and used the corpses of their own comrades against them.
How could they not be filled with despair when faced with such an unreasonable foe? No one could bring themselves to feel any sort of happiness over their first win.
It was only a matter of time before the next attack came, and no one knew if they would make it back alive.
"The Gods have truly forsaken us..." muttered the second royal guard.
With the lack of presence from their deities, and faced with despair, people had slowly begun to forget about their Gods, some of those that had left for the great temple of the King of Gods Ysion even began to pray to the Immortal pope Tamiel Sunarrow, hailing him as a deity since he was the only known Immortal left on the land.
Although he had prevented him from calling him a God and denied any claims of being one, this did not stop the people from worshiping him, as they needed a source of light and hope in these dark times where the danger of the Dark mage Mavel was looming like a dark cloud above their heads.
Needless to say, the Gods were displeased with such blasphemous actions, yet since Ysion had specifically ordered them to not intervene, they could only gnash their teeth and continue watching over the realm in helplessness as it kept on descending into madness and chaos.
At the same time, inside the Golden Gate, in an unknown dark cave deep within it. The sound of weapons clashing could be heard followed by loud explosions and sparks that illuminated the cave.
The figure of a silver-haired lady could be seen between the sparks seemingly blinking in and out of existence as she clashed against the type of monstrosities that only exists in nightmares.
BOOOOM
After one loud explosion, the silver-haired lady finally stood triumphant over the corpse of a monster that was crumpled with broken scales, and from its look, it was passed decay and bound for decomposition.
She gently wiped the sweat off her forehead as she glanced at the tablet that had suddenly appeared in front of her.
< CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations on slaying the Netherling!
As the first mortal to conquer the first God stage of the Golden Gate you are presented with the following rewards!
•Transcendance: You have left your mortal shell behind and took your first step into the realm of the Gods!
•Passage to the mortal plane: You can now freely traverse to and from Golden Gate! >
Another tablet soon followed.
< New quest!
Fulfill your prophecy, O silver-haired one!
Defeat the Dark Mage Marvel and bring an end to the chaos of the mortal plane! >
"Father, please be safe..." Muttered the lady as she glanced at her new quest a long tired sigh escaping her lips.