Due to the loud roar prior to the fight, those who were close in the area already moved away.
One of the unspoken rules is that in the struggle of two starving groups, one must not intervene. During the early days, this has been a common practice. But ever since that day where the two camps suddenly switch their target to the audience and eat them instead, it became a taboo.
There was no bad blood between the groups, they were just hungry. Especially since the separation and the establishment of the four factions, it became an even more defined rule as everyone just wants to eat. Those who take opportunities from the suffering of another is not someone who should remain after the mountains of energy crystal is found.
So Zhenin decided to do the ritual right here, right now. Ninzhe agreed, to him, he just wants to finish the mission given by his God. Zhenin did not know Ninzhe's thoughts and thought nothing of it. That was how his twin always treated him.
Opening the instruction for the ritual, Zhenin gulped.
With the assistance of his watch, Ninzhe began to draw a circle on the ground. In his vision, the circle is divided into eight parts, a vertical cut in the middle and three equal horizontal cuts. At the top of the horizontal line, he added another circle, half the size of the main circle, and a smaller one on the opposite side, the size of a plate.
Then, from the top, he drew a triangle that goes 3/4ths the circle and an inverse one at the opposite tip.
Looking from afar, it was a hexagram inside a circle. The top circle looked like a head while the lower one looked like a… well… a small circle.
Zhenin placed the holy bowl in the small circle while Ninzhe carried the half-lions into the bigger circle.
Afterward, Zhenin dripped his blood on the bowl as it began to glow gold.
On the other side, the four began to bleed from the tips of their fingers, for the man's case, in his stump. When the blood hit the ground, it moved towards the outline of the circle and into the hexagram.
With an eerie red glow, the entire hexagram seems to move at the currently slow heartbeat of the four half-lions.
At that moment, Zhenin's blood in the bowl disappeared, and the golden glow began to swallow the entire hexagram formation.
In the blink of an eye, everyone disappeared, leaving Zhenin and Ninzhe dumbfounded.
*DING*
[Urgent Chain Mission - New People 3 (Final)]
[Forwards one block, then to the left on the 24th street then right on the 7th. Take revenge for the four half-lions. According to their memories, their assailants did not suffer any injuries, so take care. Do not kill. If things got desperate, at least drop their blood into the stone.]
[Enemy List: one hu-elephant, one hu-bull, two hu-mantis.]
[Chain Mission Rewards: Entry to a training ground in my kingdom.]
[Mission Failure: Death]
With the new message, the twins took a deep breath and walked forwards.
Zhenin had a weird look on his face, "Just what is god planning to do?" he thought. After scrutinizing all of the quests he received, he couldn't think of anything. With a deep sigh, he looked at his currently thrilled brother. Still unable to brush off the excitement from the fight, he was roaring to go.
To be honest, Ninzhe understands his brother. Unlike Zhenin, he has already experienced his God's kingdom in the white space. He even got to watch his brother talk to Mengsk on a screen.
Before he went back to the known universe, Jack told him to not reveal anything about the kingdom of God and how he plans to test Zhenin's loyalty.
Actually, Ninzhe's loyalty towards Jack already surpassed his loyalty to his brother. While Zhenin is his twin brother, both his parents are in the care of Jack. With that in mind, he thinks that if something happens to him or Zhenin, they could just live in their God's kingdom. Such is the mindset of a zealot.
So when his brother looked at him, he immediately blurted how "let's go?"
Zhenin nodded and kept silent.
There's no point in thinking about a god's thoughts right now. What's more important is how they are going to fight the four healthy halflings.
——-
The White Space, The Flat Planet.
In a vast expanse of a grassy meadow, one man and three women lay on the ground unconscious.
Right above them, however, is a golden light with the silhouette of a man. On his side is a white flame. It resembles the way angels descend on the land to meet their followers.
Hovering a meter over the four, golden tendrils of light shot out of Jack's fingers towards the body of the half-lions.
As their bodies absorb the golden light, their injuries began to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye. Even the man's missing limb slowly recovered.
It didn't take long for the treatment to be finished, and if it weren't for their unkempt looks. They'd look exactly like how they were back when life was monotonous and simple.
Without waking them up, Jack beckoned for Hjuutza to come.
"Bring them to planet 2. Act like an angel, they will see you as a flame with a silhouette of a man with wings."
Hjuutza bowed. He couldn't help but say, "technically, I'm a half-bird, pretty sure what they'd see is close to how I actually looked."
The joke was a little bland, but Jack actually chuckled at his words. This made Hjuutza feel happy.
Over the course of his stay in the white space, besides studying all of the broken soul, all he does is observe this newly awakened God in front of him.
And so far, besides all the miracles he has done, Hjuutza only has one word left to describe Jack.
Human. Hjuutza has never met a pure human before. Meeting Jack, all the stories about humans actually fits Jack perfectly.
They can save civilizations, they're willing to make miracles happen, they care about others. All of that for a single reason, and that is as long as it'll benefit them, they'll do it.
Hjuutza was smart, but he wasn't good at deducing like Zhenin. But the universe, the coming of the four living beings, acting like the holy spirit.
Even though he wasn't sure what kind of gains Jack would have, everything he has done so far benefits him in a way. And it seems like things had begun to move forwards.
After his chuckle, Jack shook his head. Looking at Hjuutza, he spoke: "Do your job properly, soon you'll have your own physical body and be reincarnated with your memories intact."
Hjuutza bowed once again and said, "I won't let you down, my lord."
Jack nodded. With a flick of his hand, the five disappeared and was transported to the second habitable planet.
With a snap, five screens appeared in front of him as he began to observe how Hjuutza will deal with the four.
On the planet, somewhere deep within his soul, Hjuutza heard a chime, and a bunch of text appeared in his vision.
[Tasks of a Guardian Angel]
[Help the people gain a new identity as someone who entered heaven and is given a second chance. Their bodies have surpassed stage 1, and they must figure out stage 2 on their own.]
Compared to the one of those who live in the known universe, the system in Hjuutza's vision is only barebones. Besides his cravings for research as part of his personality that is etched deep in his soul, all other wants have long disappeared from Hjuutza.
Jack knew he couldn't seduce Hjuutza with rewards as he's only a soul who's only desire is to study. Even if being lustful was part of his personality, he didn't even have a body to enjoy sex with. Thus, Jack went with this approach.
However, when Hjuutza read his task, an idea formed in his head about Jack's plans.
"Is he building an army?"
It was only a fleeting thought, and he didn't give much thought about it.
For what it seemed like half an hour, Hjuutza remained floating. One specialty of a soul is that they can stop all thoughts as with their practically immortal body has absolutely no need for anything. Besides the joy or pain they get that relates to their passion, nothing affects their feelings anymore.
With a weak grunt, the four half-lions woke up. Opening their tired eyes, they couldn't help but block the bright sun with their hands. It even took a moment for the man to realize that his dominant hand is attached to his body again. After staring for a short moment at his newly grown arms, he felt ecstatic and immediately looked for his kin.
At a glance, he saw the three women staring up at the sky dumbfounded. Even when their eyes started to redden, they did not lower their heads nor close it.
Confused at the thing they were staring at, the man also looked up. To his surprise, the sun up in the sky is not red, but golden yellow.
At that moment, his mind blanked. None of his excitement or joy remained on his face, only astonishment.
Looking at the four dumbfounded half-lions on the ground, Hjuutza couldn't help but chuckle. In his mind, he already listed down how the four reacted at the sight of a healthy, young sun.
After a minute had passed, the four pairs of eyes had turned red. Tears were flowing. Whether it was from their dried eyes or their boiling emotions, they did not know.