Heaven. It was a sort of paradise that humans naturally wanted to be part of after they died. It was said that when soul ascended to this realm of afterlife, they will find peace for eternity. It was the complete opposite for Hell, a realm of ever-burning fire meant to punish criminals and sinful people for eternity.
But Adam did not care a shit about Heaven or Hell. He will decide his own fate, not this Judge of Death woman in front of him. No matter how powerful was she, even if she was some omnipotent immortal being capable of erasing a planet with just a wave of an arm, he did not care anymore. He just wanted to take control of his fate, do whatever he wanted, and no one can stop him!
"You are a brave human soul," the Judge of Death admitted, her tone full of admiration. But then, it suddenly became chilling, "But you are clearly not aware of your own boundaries, you dare to blaspheme the sacred idea of fair judgement, and even disdain me, the Judge of Death! Such sin must be punished heavily."
With that declaration, a black, demonic tiny ball of light materialized out of thin air. Adam looked at this and felt a terrifying aura coming from it.
"Forgive me!"
"Help me!"
"I repent my sins now!"
There were voices, screaming, clearly in pain in that black light. It was a maddening sound, one that made Adam hallucinate where he could see the realm of Hell, those exact voices in front of him in flesh, their bodies were melted and horrifying, but the liquid like melted flesh and blood never moved on their body, just staying there, attached to their skin, as though they were solid.
Then Adam snapped out of his hallucinations as he realized the black light already in front of him.
"Not good!"
Adam tried to dodge it by stepping sideways, but the black light never left him alone, still following him.
"No matter what, you can't escape my judgement! For defying and blaspheming the sacred judgement of fairness, I, the Judge of Death, hereby declare to send you in the deepest depths of Hell—the Seventh Layer, Infinite Despair!"
The Judge of Death declared as the black light accelerated itself. That's it then, he can't avoid the inevitable anymore. For a moment, suddenly regretted his choice for defying this woman, and he thought what if he just accepted her initial judgement? He was probably in Heaven now, chilling.
However, the woman naturally did not care whatever was going through his mind, she was going to punish him, no matter what!
As the tiny ball of light was about to touch Adam, a sudden, spherical sort of a dimension suddenly appeared, and it absorbed the tiny black light.
Adam looked at it in shock as well as the Judge of Death. Then, after the initial shock, she suddenly snarled, "What are you doing here, God Trickster Avelrios!?"
"You seemed to be having fun without me."
A voice suddenly came out from behind him, causing Adam to turn himself around and saw a long-haired guy in black suit with a noticeable long ears walking toward his way. The suited guy, named God Trickster Avelrios, added, "You are clearly going too far by trying to punish someone and send him to Hell. I do not recall there was a rule like that in the Judgement Handbook."
"He turned this sacred ritual into a mockery!" The Judge of Death immediately replied, he tone extremely cold and piercing.
"That's no good," Avelrios shook his head in disappointment as he patted Adam's shoulder and whispered to him, "Don't worry, I gotcha."
What? For a moment Adam thought he was imagining things up. He was actually being helped by a god!? Seeing how things were going right now, it seemed that a god had a higher rank than the Judge of Death.
"You might be a god, but you have no rights to interfere with my Judgement!" The Judge of Death icily replied, confirming Adam's guesses about ranks of entities.
"Your mother, the Goddess of Death Velfreás, will do a fair judgement and send him to Heaven." Avelrios calmly said, his face plastered a smile.
At this moment, Adam did not know if his mind was playing tricks on him, but he seemed saw the Judge of Death suddenly wavering for a moment after Avelrios mentioned the Goddess of Death.
"Don't include my mother here!" The Judge of Death gritted her teeth in frustration.
However, God Trickster Avelrios' attention was no longer on her. He stared at Adam, a mysterious light on his eyes which made the latter squirm slightly.
What is this guy about to do? Adam unknowingly clenched his fist as he stared at this god in vigilance. He did not know what he was planning, but he certainly hoped it was not disadvantageous for him.
"You…do you want a second chance in life?"
When Adam heard what Avelrios just said, he was deeply in shock. Second chance? It this guy going to give him the second change he badly needed to turn life around and take control of his fate, no longer burdened by the expectations from his family. If he ever came back—if that was possible—he won't care about his pieces of shit family anymore. He knew this was extremely selfish, but if they kept taking advantage of his kindness, then there was no need to be kind.
"I do," said Adam with full of determination. He badly wanted it, needed it, and in this second chance, he will take control of his life! "I want a second chance! I want to live once again!"
Avelrios smiled upon hearing this and nodded.
"Good, then I shall grant you your wish. However, I won't let you just return to your original world. You must earn it, find your way and defy death over and over and over again!"
"You can't do this!" The Judge of Death screamed her lungs out. "I am supposed to be the Judge of his fate, not you!"
"Shut up, you hybrid woman," Avelrios stared at her coldly before switching into a smile as he looked at Adam.
"So I am going to another world?" Adam asked, wanted to confirm it again. He did not know what to feel about this, and he felt like Avelrios was choosing his path for him. Didn't he wanted to take control of his own life? Should he really agree to Avelrios' conditions?
The answer was yes. Because at this moment, Adam realized something. To survive, sometimes I must compromise.
So, Adam nodded his head and agreed on the Trickster God's terms. As long as he can go back to living again, however hard the new world might be, he will overcome it. Not just by hardwork, Adam was sick of it now, but by ruthless efficiency of doing anything, however extreme, to survive this world.
"Good!" Avelrios clapped his hands and nodded. "Then, as the name of I, God Trickster Avelrios, I hereby use my divine authority to overrule Judge of Death's punishment to Adam Johnson. I shall be giving this mortal a second chance to breath with the living again."
After saying all that, God Trickster Avelrios smiled and said, "Well, goodbye, and good luck of finding your purpose."
Before Adam could even reply, God Trickster Avelrios tapped his forehead using his fingertips and he suddenly saw everything blurring around him.
But before he would be transferred to that mysterious world Avelrios was talking about, Adam saw him mouthing something: See you soon, if you can. Followed by those words was a grin of amusement and evil. Adam suddenly felt chills in his heart but then the scene changed in front of him.
He was no longer in the courtroom.