"SO. Which one of you did it?"
A loud voice bellowed. The other three figures sitting at the roundtable were not amused.
"Listen, Scentoph, could you please keep it down? All of us are here to have a civili—"
"NO! This is NOT a situation in which we can just sit here and talk! Nethryn, you have the absolute NERVE to make light of such a disaster?!"
The shadowy figure named Nethryn twirled her long, black hair and scoffed. A silence filled the room for a few seconds, before another one of the figures began to speak, this time a beautiful elf-like woman with greenish-white hair and spectral wings that shone a dazzling jade behind her.
"Now, now, you two, let's calm down, okay? I'm sure we can figu—"
The beast of a man slammed his hand down onto the table.
"Fine. Then let's get down to business. The First Cataclysm. This could not possibly be the work of anyone but a god. And I'm here to figure out which one of you it was—"
The last of the four beings at the table interrupted Scentoph with a devious cackle. He seemed to be a man with sharp eyes, clad in an elegant black robe, as if he had just exited a hot bath.
"I wouldn't underestimate the humans, you know. They're quite intelligent."
The large behemoth with a curly mustache spanning the width of his face appeared to be confused. His fierce eyebrows twitched in response, and his red hair seemed to glow as if it were on fire.
"You're implying the humans would commit such a disaster onto themselves?"
"Why, of course. We all know this isn't the first time they've engaged in meaningless wars with each other. Isn't that right, Reia?"
Scentoph grit his teeth and seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment. The elf lady named Reia looked up nervously, not knowing what she was supposed to say.
"Such a technology shouldn't be able to be performed by human hands. Yes, they are intelligent, but a power of this scale is unprecedented."
She sighed before continuing to speak again.
"If only Yuria were here..."
At that moment, a cold tension filled the room, along with a deathly silence. In the world of Desiderium, there were five realms, but only four gods were present at this meeting.
"M-My apologies, I didn't mean to upset the mood..."
The one wearing a black robe interjected, quickly taking control of the situation.
"Well, let's go with what Scentoph suggested, and go down the list as we explain ourselves. Starting with you, Reia, since you can't seem to keep your mouth shut."
Reia looked down her lap sadly, before speaking again.
"No one has come to make a wish for decades now. It's not possible for Phantasia to be responsible either. Despite being well-versed in magic, the act of opening a rift in reality is not what we would call magic..."
The other three seemed to agree, even without her explanation, as Reia was the most gentle of the present gods, and her realm Phantasia was known for being especially tranquil, free of conflict.
Nethryn sat with his chin resting on his fist, clearly ticked off because of what Scentoph said.
"You all know I don't mettle with the matters of anyone outside of Apocalypt. I am responsible for my own people, and my own people only. My realm is not capable of such a disaster like the Cataclysm. In fact, these idiots are still fighting amongst each other like uncivilized apes."
Scentoph glared at Nethryn for the remark he made at the end of his statement.
"Excuse me, I'll have you know apes are actually quite—"
"Shut up. I don't care."
"As cold as always, aren't you. Well, I suppose I needn't say much. I don't even know how to use magic! Ferdoa is quite a primitive realm, you know... We don't have the luxury of such powerful techniques in our arsenal."
The man with sharp eyes continued to look at Scentoph, even after he was done speaking.
"Well, Mephistos? Is there something you want to say?"
The man, now identified as Mephistos simply chuckled.
"No, no. Allow me to explain myself then, since you all seem to have your doubts about me."
The other three gods laid their gazes on Mephistos, listening carefully to what he had to say.
"I know it's very easy to suspect me of being the culprit. But ask yourselves... for what purpose? I despise the humans. Why would I ever want something like their disgusting souls within my possession?"
Scentoph began to grow visibly angry.
"You just said it yourself, dunce! You despise the humans. And this is all an elaborate ruse to make it look like you aren't the one who did it!"
Mephistos began to tap his finger on the armrest of his chair repeatedly.
"Calm down, you big oaf. Oblivion, is a realm of the dead. There is a reason why any human who ventures into my realm never makes it back alive. That being said, there is no rhyme nor reason as to why I would voluntarily bring human souls into my realm. It would simply increase the incessant screaming of lost souls that I already deal with on a daily basis."
The other three gods exchanged glances with each other until he continued to speak.
"I pose you all a question; what lies beyond Oblivion? Of course, it would be a simple border at the end of my realm, just like Phantasia, right?"
Scentoph, confused, responded with slight anger.
"What are you getting at here, you—"
"Shh. Let Mephistos finish."
Reia interrupted the god of beasts, something she had never done before.
"Finally, someone with some sense. As I was saying, no one's ever tried to go beyond Oblivion. The possibility of other realms past mine could be very real."
In order to cross realms, one would have to reach the border to go to the next. As of now, the structure of the five realms was like this: Phantasia, Apocalypt, Ferdoa, Severis, and lastly, Oblivion. At the edge of Phantasia is simply a barrier; nothing lies beyond it.
"Us gods, being confined to our respective realms, obviously cannot answer that question ourselves."
With that, Mephistos finished what he had to say. The other gods looked amongst each other in confusion.
"So you're pinning the blame of this disaster on some other realm... that we don't even know EXISTS?!"
Scentoph was on the verge of exploding at this point. It all made no sense to him.
"It's important to keep our horizons open. In this case, since we cannot confirm for ourselves what lies beyond Oblivion, we must wait for a strong-willed adventurer to make it through themselves."
Reia answered calmly and professionally, providing a "solution" to the idea Mephistos proposed.
"And because Oblivion is such a treacherous realm, such an adventurer would journey to see us gods in pursuit of strength, and it is our jobs to guide them along the right path."
Mephistos grinned, sitting up straight.
"There we have it, then. There will be an influx of adventurers due to the Cataclysm. Be prepared to meet them, and make your judgement on who exactly is worthy of journeying beyond Oblivion. Everyone agree?"
Nethryn was the first to object the proposal.
"You're telling me I have to deal with all these humans and even help them? What a joke. If they're truly a strong adventurer, then they could get past Apocalypt on their own! Just like all the others who made it to Phantasia."
Nethryn was infamous for ignoring outsiders who would come to his realm, oftentimes leaving them to fend for themselves. Because of this, Apocalypt has a high mortality rate, making it the most dangerous realm to attempt to cross, besides Oblivion, of course.
"In that case, your precious people in Apocalypt can get swallowed up by another Cataclysm while you sit there and do nothing."
Mephistos took advantage of Nethryn's patriotism and love towards the people of his own realm. He simply grunted in response, which Mephistos understood as a "yes."
"Now, what about you, Scentoph?"
"I'm fine with it. It doesn't matter to me, as long as they prove themselves that they are a powerful warrior."
Scentoph's ego hated the fact of leaving the fate of the world in a random adventurer's hands, but he had no choice but to comply.
"As for me, I doubt anyone will try to come straight to Oblivion, but I'll decide if they're worthy based on how long they can last with death."
Mephistos cackled, finding joy in imagining the torment of humans. Still, he was not a sadist, and still possessed some semblance of compassion towards those with strong wills.
"Are we done now?"
Nethryn was clearly fed up with this whole ordeal, and wanted to go back to his realm.
"Yes, yes, no need to be so impatient. Dismissed."
By the time he said that, Nethryn and Scentoph were already gone, with Reia being the only one to have the courtesy to wait before leaving.
"Well, I sure hope an interesting human shows up in Oblivion soon."
Mephistos whispered under his breath, in both contempt and excitement towards the current predicament.
Phantasia, the realm of magic, elves, and other mystical beings, overseen by Reia.
Apocalypt, the demon realm, a treacherous, lawless land, ruled by Nethryn.
Ferdoa, the beast realm, a region of nature and ferocious creatures along with friendly beastfolk, governed by Scentoph.
Severis, the human realm, consisting of multiple nations and societies, with no god.
And Oblivion, the death realm, where the sinful go to suffer unto eternity, controlled by Mephistos.
This was the vast world of Desiderium, and the start of a long, arduous adventure.