Chapter 2 - A Luminous End

Mizuko, though feeling the intensity of the moment, maintained his composure. Given their circumstances, he figured due to his influence, they'd all remain calm if he exhibited such behavior since he was the perfect candidate to do so.

He simply refused to let their second chance crumble because of their ignorant nature, after all a stern warning had already been issued.

"To save humanity."

"Excuse me, miss Nezuna." He said, addressing the angel. "What do you mean by save humanity? If it's not too much of a trouble for you, can you elaborate?"

She smiled at his question, not only was this teenager handsome in all mortal kind's glory, he was also one of the few mortals to address a deity with proper respect.

"Of course, after all their fates rests in your hands so every detail is crude and necessary."

"Thank you." He replied, bowing his head in respect.

"What's your name human?" She asked.

"Mizuko, Mizuko Abarame."

He maintained his bow, earning another soft smile from the goddess yet again.

"You can raise your head now, what I'm about to tell you is important, especially you Mizuko since I'll be leaving you in charge of this mission." She said, attracting his immediate obedience as soon as her words left her lips.

"An apocalypse is brewing in another world far different from yours, and apparently the only ones who can stop or potentially put an end to it is you five."

Her words dropped on them with the weight of an anchor of a ship, brewing varied reactions amongst three of them.

Her words were shocking, leaving the five students merely confused.

"What? So you're not saving us, you're just transporting us to another world!" Ren's voice held a hint of annoyance, his lips forming a small frown as he refused to go down this path.

"Yes, that's correct."

"W-what... But I want to go home, back to my parents, my siblings." Mei uttered with teary eyes, unable to comprehend the truth.

"Sure I can do that, but you'll simply meet the same fate as those who died in the explosion."

"N-No."

"I get it, you all want to go home. So do I, but given the circumstances it's not longer a possibility so let's just try to remain calm and hear her out." Mizuko said, his voice exuding authority as it pierced through the intense space.

Even with their combined unease, they all nodded in agreement to his words. The true epitome of leadership.

"Like I said earlier, an apocalypse is brewing and due to the world's inability to handle it on their own, you five have been summoned."

Even with her explanations it was still unclear to them.

"A war? Humans fight war all the time, what makes them different from us that we had to be summoned?" Ren asked.

Theoretically speaking, he wasn't complaining anymore about being summoned by the goddess since he was about to die anyways. But he still couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Because unlike humanity in your world, the wagers of the war are not people they can handle. It is not my place to disclose any more information about it, but all I can say is this. Human's from your world have a more complex and refined soul, therefore your Soul-Energy is their only hope in attaining victory."

"H-Huh? Wait, Soul-Energy?"

"Like I said, it's not my place to disclose any more information regarding it. You'll be told all you need to know once I've transported your souls there. But keep one thing in mind, you can not tell the inhabitants of the other world your mission." She announced with a stern voice.

"And why is that?" Rentaro inquired.

"Because they have no idea a war is about to happen, telling them will simply plunge them into an unnecessary state of panic and they'll end up losing before the war will even begin. Once you've been transported, you all will awaken your individual talents, once that happens your mission begins."

Nezuna explained, revealing the implications of making such a drastic decision.

"Now that you've all been briefed on the matter, will you proceed as planned? Or do you still want to go back to your world as dead corpses?"

They all stared at each other for several moments before seemingly reaching an inevitable conclusion.

"Okay, we accept your conditions and mission. It's not like we have much choice anyways, after all we'd just end up dead if we decline." Mizuko, the general overseer of their mission replied on their behalf.

"Okay then, you all have your mission. Always remember, with powers comes responsibilities, and with those responsibilities and stable mindset and leadership is required. The fate of their world is resting on your hands, good luck humans, you'll need it."

As she advised them, a blinding light illuminated the empty space they floated in. And in the blink of an eye, they were all transported into another world.

"Finally, they're gone. Dealing with annoying creatures like humans is such a pain. My specific incantation was for the purpose of summoning five human souls with the highest Soul-Energy, but I ended up with kids?"

Her initial purpose was to summon humans with the greatest Soul-Energy, she never expected it'd turn out to be teenagers.

"Well, judging from the energy emanating from their bodies when I interacted with them, they possess enough Soul-Energy to complete the task, but."

This led her to the greatest worry she held in while conversing with the five students.

'The purpose of my spell was to summon humans with exceptional Soul-Energy, however out of the five students summoned only four met the requirements.' She thought.

During their conversation, she couldn't help but notice the poor Soul-Energy the fifth student, Rentaro Mizuno had.

"Was there an error in my incantation?"

Systematically speaking, even an average human in the world the kids were transported to had a more considerable Soul-Energy than him. Theoretically it was impossible, humans from earth aren't supposed to be equal to the average humans from the other world.

"I can't send his soul back to the world of the dead while he lives again, I just hope he won't be a burden to the rest of the the team." She said, with a voice filled with disdain as she resented the choice she made to transport Rentaro along with the rest of them.

..

[Starhaven Village]

[Xen Reef High]

[12:00PM]

In the backyard of an academy, five students laid on the ground unconscious, they appeared lifeless. That was until a bright light illuminated the entirety of the school.

Following the light's immediate dispersion, the five students arose from their slumber instantly, gasping for air as their nervous system completely shut down for a considerate amount of time before the light.

They all rose to their feet, tapping the side of their clothing cautiously.

"I feel like I've been blasted to the past."

The five students had nearly almost the same similarities as the five the goddess summoned, they even had the same names. What set them apart was the age they were from.

Yes, unlike their previous modernized world, they were transported to another world that was ages behind them. Currently, they were in the 15th century.

"Well since it looks like we'll be working together, you probably already know me but for a proper introduction my name's Ren Drear, nice to meet you." With a radiant smile that lit the mood, Ren introduced himself to the two girls.

"Umm, nice to meet you too I guess." They replied.

His smile grew thin as he felt his pride melting, usually his charm attracted many girls to him. But that wasn't the case.

'You guess?' He thought, his radiant smile squeezing along with his apparent shame.

The two girls ran towards Mizuko, not only did they view him as more attractive, they both crushed on him even before their deaths. After all that was one of the perks of being overpopular.

"What are we going to do now Mizuko?"

"Hey, stop getting too close to him!"

The two girls, Mei and Yui argued back and forth about each other's closeness to him.

"Seriously? We just died and they still fight over him?" Ren thought.

It is a normal feeling of jealousy any average teen would feel, however with Mizuko it became unbearable.

"Right now, we have to understand the world we are in. I'm sure you've noticed by now, this is not at all what we're used to. So in order for this to work, we all need to work together. Do you agree, Rentaro?"

With a demeanor that exuded his superior decision making abilities, he asked fixating his gaze on Rentaro.

Despite the difference in popularity, Rentaro and Mizuko were actually close friends long before he attained popularity. However he became so popular even among the teachers that he rarely had time for anybody in general.

"Do we know him from somewhere?"

"I've never seen him in class before, is he a transfer student? Or perhaps from another class?"

Both girls asked, whispering in each other's ears.

"What are you five doing over there!?" A loud voice proclaimed, calling the attention of the five students who conversed with each other.