(Author Notes)
Hello everyone, I wanted to thank RikuKage and Vulki for giving me supporters as more experienced authors than me. Riku wrote a good portion of the talk between Niall and a God so be sure to check his story, (Oh No, I Get Stuck Crazy Name that Stuck me with A Crazy Goddess!) long-ass name but a very cool story.
Then I got permission to use Vulki's OC character which is very important for his fics and that is Nekros, a god that he uses in his Danmachi fics. Be sure to check Orario Bastard Cheating Minecrafter story, which is my favorite fic. And then be sure to check his Chaos Orario fic too, it's very nicely written.
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"Shinra Tensei"
Niall's calm voice chanted the newly developed power he had acquired. Even though there was no need for a chant, Niall always wanted to try it out.
The incoming group of men was suddenly forced back at blinding speed, crashing into the sturdy walls behind them, their bodies breaking upon impact. The moment Niall cast his power, a strange spatial sound echoed through the street.
The men who were pushed back couldn't even comprehend what had happened before their souls left their gored bodies, experiencing a quick and painless death that released them from their mortal bindings. A total of five men had been dispatched by Niall, adding five new kills to his quest manual.
Niall quickly fled the scene to avoid the incoming police force that would surely be called once one of the residents noticed the bloody pile of flesh lying next to the destroyed wall. He made his way back to his hidden base inside a church, locking the door shut behind him to ensure no one dared to enter.
Taking off his mask, Niall let out a tired sigh after all the events of the day. From buying new clothes to killing a bunch of fools with Pain's ability, it all once seemed like a distant dream he could only imagine. But now it had become a reality, proving that he didn't understand much about the universe.
After a few moments of lying on the rusty couch, Niall considered summoning his Necronomicon book but decided against it, realizing there wouldn't be a point in doing so.
"My status probably just barely moved after I killed those guys. Anyway, I should focus on finding the perfect grinding spot to complete my quest as quickly as possible," Niall thought as he relaxed on the couch, contemplating his next move.
Since he didn't need to sleep, eat, or drink, he had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He needed a proper schedule to get stronger fast, and he also wanted to interact with popular characters in person.
"Man... not having to sleep is like a double-edged sword. The positive thing is that you have all the time you need, but the downside is it can get pretty boring when you have nothing to do."
Niall decided to rest his eyes for a while since he was still getting used to not needing sleep during the night. After an hour or two of resting his eyes, Niall finally managed to gather enough energy to go outside.
---
At the crime scene where the bloody corpses of men lay rotting, members of the Ganesha Familia arrived a little while ago.
"Say, Shakti, what do you think killed these guys? I've never seen an ability that could cause something like this," an Amazonian adventurer of the Ganesha Familia asked her fellow partner-in-law.
"I don't know any adventurer with an ability like this, Ilta..." Shakti tried to process which adventurer could have caused this, but with Orario being as large as it is, the whole thing was even more troublesome.
"Tsch, to think there's someone like this walking around the town without our knowledge is troublesome enough. Could it have been some adventurers from outside of the city?"
Both Ilta and Shakti looked over at the cunning-looking man, Hashana Dorila. He was level 4, the third strongest in the entirety of the Ganesha Familia, and also a well-experienced adventurer who had no trouble cutting down villains.
But his personality was also known to be spiteful—a veteran adventurer who didn't hold his tongue. "Should we call the Loki Familia for something like this, or the Hermes Familia for an investigation?"
Ilta, a red-haired Amazon, asked her two colleagues who stood next to her. "Call the Hermes Familia and let them do their own thing. They're the best at scouting and finding information, unlike us. We are just the guard force of the city."
Shakti sighed at the gory sight and turned her back to it. She couldn't recognize the dead adventurers, so she left the case for Hermes and his familia.
---
It was still night, a couple of hours before the sun began to rise and the city started to slowly wake up. Niall was currently inside his home at the church, inspecting the book God had given him.
'Now that I think about it, my fast growth is pretty sus since God never mentioned any skill booster like Bell has. Plus, how will my Hastur's Cloak ability affect my durability since I can pretty much only get damaged by an opponent who's two levels above me or higher...'
Niall thought for a moment before deciding to try contacting his God, but after a couple of minutes, no reply came.
'Fuck this shit, I know it has omnipotence and can see me whenever.' Niall thought before deciding to do something rash.
Niall stared at the book where the eye would usually pop up.
"....."
"..."
"I know you are there and watching me. So don't make this harder for both of us. Unless you want me to check if this book is flammable."
An eye opened, narrowing at him, indicating not to push it. "We both know you won't do that. With your insatiable hunger for strength, you won't risk destroying the thing tied to your power."
"Tied to my power? So you're saying that if I somehow lost this book or destroyed it, I would lose all of my power?"
Rolling its one eye, it replied, "Of course not. Even if you wanted to destroy it, you could, but you could always spawn infinite amounts of them."
Niall stared down at the eye for a second before deciding to speak. "My stats."
"What about them?" The large eye blinked as Niall finished his sentence, revealing no emotion behind it.
"Why are they increasing so fast? I don't have a skill that boosts Excel rate, and with my abilities and now with the cloak, my durability is pretty much useless. I leveled up after two weeks of dungeon diving, and I haven't even ground like I know I can."
"....Why does it matter? You're getting what you want. You're getting stronger," it said, disregarding Niall's question.
Letting out a deep breath, Niall threw the book on the table without showing a single emotion on his face. The book slammed hard onto the wooden table. After it hit the table, the book flew up into the air to match Niall's height.
"So you can fly too? Perfect." Niall mocked the flying book. The God behind it made a weird slithering noise.
Looking at Niall, confused, the voice behind the book changed to a female one and spoke. "Is that your issue? Not that we are leading you down a path to wanting more power?"
Scoffing, he leaned up and crossed his arms. "I could care less about you guys wanting me to be more chaotic. I just don't see a point in all the hidden manipulation. I will complete the quests you give me if they are pleasing enough to me, but I want full transparency behind everything I get from you."
"...." It said nothing, waiting to hear what else Niall had to say.
"I mean, come on, anyone who thinks that cheaters never win is an idiot." Niall paused for a moment, expecting God's reply at any moment now. He crossed his arms, and the eye blinked again at him.
"Ones who set the rules are the true winners of everything, Niall. The ones who operate from the shadows and control everything else without showing their appearances are the true victors in this so-called life. I am sure you know that very well, considering you spent your last life in a world massively controlled by elites."
Niall couldn't reply to anything as the counter-argument; he knew that God was right, so he couldn't fathom a word to defend himself.
"In this world, these Gods are the only winners since they use mortals for amusement. Even the strongest adventurer will still be a follower of a God or a Spirit, still a mere follower despite the power he possesses. That's why the operators, admins, Gods, or whatever you want to call them, control the game."
Niall could only look down on his failure to win this argument; every word God said was true, and every sentence it said was the truth.
"So? Why do you seek my attention when you already have things to do, feats to achieve, and quests to complete?" God's tone was left unchanged; it wanted to educate its foolish followers who got a little bit out of the path.
"Forget about it all, I will do the quests and live my life. But I want to know more about you and your origins; I know that you watch me all the time, so no bother in trying to brush me away like you did the last time."
The eye blinked once again before a surprising laugh came out from the book, leaving Niall thinking what was about to happen next.
"AHAHAHAHAH!! A smart, yet foolish child... You do not just question the sole being who gave you those powers you have, just like that. But I will answer some of your questions just to please your desire to know more."
Niall calmly nodded and began asking questions, "First of all, are you a supreme being that created all of existence? If not, then how are you allowed to have such omnipotent abilities since the cycle of life and death is something only the one true God should control."
The eye remained silent for a moment before it spoke again, "My origins aren't important enough for you to know, not like you could understand it. I will just say that I am not a God that most mortals think of; I am one of the stronger beings in existence but leagues below those beings far above me."
Niall's assumptions were correct; this was just a random omnipotent being that happened to rule over his universe or greater.
"The one TRUE God that you mortals so believe in is unknown to even me; however, that doesn't matter right now since I am the God that rules over your reality and the people from it. I am your God, and no other omnipotent being like me can just walk in this reality; that would be an immediate act of war."
Niall raised an eyebrow for a second, "Act of War? But aren't you guys uninterested in puny, mortal concepts like those?"
"I used those terms just to make it understandable for you, Niall. But I must say that we sometimes use those terms too, so yes, you are right... we can wage wars on each other and do pretty much what your kind can do."
Niall listened to his patron carefully, admitting that the God that granted him this power was heavily bullshitting right now, but Niall chose to ignore it.
But before Niall could speak anymore, the book closed, and the god's presence disappeared from Niall's sight.
'Huh?! What the heck happened?' is all Niall could think as the book flew up to the ceiling and began shaking uncontrollably. The once-powerful presence of a God was now turned into dust like it was never there in the first place.
Niall hid behind a wall, spectating the entire thing for a moment after a couple of minutes. The book fell on the ground. All shining from it was not completely gone as the book lay down until a mysterious voice called out to Niall.
"Hey you boy, over here!" The blue portal suddenly opened, revealing a circle-shaped portal with a blue glow. Staring deeper into it, the portal revealed a relatively tall man with a nice suit.
"And who are you?" Niall asked the mysterious man, speculating if it was some different god or just the same god but with a different form applied.
"My name is Nekros...."