Priscilla smiled. "I am glad you have chosen. You are being given a rare chance for a different outcome. Please do not waste it."
Haruto noticed that although she smiled, she had an almost sad look behind her eyes. He took note and changed direction. "By the way, I keep hearing you mention celestial fiends… Who or what are they?"
Dimitri looked at him but figured he had a right to know. "If we are the gods, think of them as the ferrymen. They absorb life force. They operate outside of us and handle all death. In your world, they're likely known as grim reapers. Their instincts are solely law-driven. Which is why we must get you going. We cannot directly interfere with them and vice versa. They know about all death, and without the help of Titan, you'd be absorbed already."
Haruto slightly remembered a movie series he watched as a little kid about a wizard who went to a magic school. In the series, they had something similar. He shuddered at the thought of it. If they looked or were anything similar, he wanted nothing to do with them.
"Before you go," Dimitri appeared again in front of Haruto. He stood, arms folded, finger on his chin in deep thought. "Make sure you keep those items hidden. Once you get there, you'll understand why. And on second thought..."
He abruptly flicked Haruto on the head. But surprisingly, Haruto felt no pain. Instead, he felt a refreshing wave surge into his body. Was this magic?
"Dimitri!" Priscilla shook her head, worried.
"What? I'm not breaking any rules of intervention, he's not part of any realm yet. Just a life force. Besides, I won't get another chance like this. It should make things interesting."
"What did you do just now?" Haruto asked, seeing Priscilla's reaction.
Dimitri smiled. "I simply decided to have some fun with this. I only enhanced your physical abilities a bit. Made your bones a bit denser."
Haruto was shocked as he felt incredibly light now, almost as if he could fight a bear. Little did he know.
"As I said, it's a small enhancement. Whatever is going on there, it's not good. I need to make sure you're at least durable enough. This should assist you a bit and make sure you don't die by something like falling off a cliff. Hahaha."
Priscilla shook her head at Dimitri's attempt at a joke. Unknown to Haruto, a small black mark appeared on the back of his neck. When Priscilla noticed, she pondered if she should address it but decided to let it be. She didn't know Haruto personally, but sometimes letting one figure it out on their own can be the best course of action. For the blessing of a divine one can be a blessing or a curse. Haruto already had his work cut out for him, and she did not want to add to it.
A wave of energy erupted through the room, making Dimitri immediately leave his aloof demeanor and turn quite serious. "Time's up, see ya."
Before Haruto could utter a word, he was kicked into a portal that had suddenly opened. As it closed, the room quickly got colder.
Three figures appeared almost instantly and stood towering before Priscilla and Dimitri.
The celestial fiends had arrived.