"Are you going to take my life?" Rudi asked again, trying to make sure. His voice trembled, forced courage barely masking the fear creeping up his spine.
Amadeus gave a small smile. "So," he said slowly, like an orator at the height of a speech. "Is this your first impression of me? That I, Amadeus, am no higher than the Angel of Death?" Amadeus's expression turned serious, his gaze sharp. Rudi's question had struck a nerve, offending his pride as a higher being.
"How dare you compare me to such lowly creatures," Amadeus growled, his voice low and filled with contempt. His body radiated a dense aura of darkness, a predator's presence, ready to devour its prey.
As his anger rose, the atmosphere around them changed. The air suddenly felt heavy, oppressive, and inescapable. The world seemed to dim, darkening like black ink spilled into the ocean.
Rudi felt the weight pressing down on him. His lungs fought to draw air, each breath becoming harder to take. His legs shook under the immense pressure.
Without needing to be told, Rudi realized he had angered a being far superior to him, something even greater than the Angel of Death. Something older, more dangerous. A being who could obliterate him with a flick of a finger, erasing him from existence in an instant.
The envoy sighed deeply, suppressing the aura that was leaking from his body. It was as if he was restraining himself, delaying the execution. He didn't want to ruin the fragile mind of the puppet who was about to play in his performance.
And then, everything calmed. The pressure around Rudi vanished, and he could breathe again, though his legs still trembled with fear.
"Sorry, sometimes I forget how fragile human souls are. I won't take your life; that's such a boring job," Amadeus explained, his tone returning to a friendly one.
"Then, what do you want from me?" Rudi asked, his voice hoarse. Though his body had returned to normal, suspicion still lingered in his mind.
Amadeus crossed his arms, standing tall with pride, his posture solid and full of arrogance as if it were natural for him. "As I said before, I have an offer for you."
"An offer?"
Amadeus smiled. A smile that hid something too big to understand.
"I can grant you one wish," Amadeus said, his words slow, almost like a chant. "The deepest desire of every human's heart. Power, wealth, control… anything."
Rudi remained silent, his logic flickering under the weight of those words.
Yet, Amadeus's offer began to affect his thoughts. It sparked a glimmer of hope in Rudi's heart, a hope that had been dead for years. He frowned. "Something that big… you wouldn't give it for free."
"Of course not. Nothing in this world is free. Everything must be paid for at an equal price," Amadeus clarified.
"Then… what do I have to pay? My soul?" Rudi asked, hiding his anxiety behind sarcasm.
Amadeus snorted, as if hearing a bad joke. "Your soul?" he said, mocking. "Stop with your outdated thinking, human. I don't need your filthy soul. I'll give you one condition that's much more interesting."
"A condition?"
"Win Deus ex Desire," Amadeus said, his voice serious, full of pride.
Rudi furrowed his brow, the words felt foreign, heavy, and dangerous.
"Deus ex Desire?" Rudi asked. The words felt strange on his tongue, like a language that humans should never speak.
The envoy smiled broadly, the smile of a merchant who had won over his customer. As if he had been waiting for that question to escape Rudi's lips.
Amadeus calmly clapped his hands together. The white leather gloves covering his fingers made him look like a maestro, orchestrating a symphony of destruction. The sound of the clap echoed like thunder, and instantly, the air around Rudi changed.
Blue flames ignited, scorching the air around Rudi with wild sparks. From within the blue flames, glass-like screens appeared. Large, thin, and transparent. They floated in the air, orbiting Rudi like planets circling a sun.
Each screen displayed destruction. Calamities from different eras of human history.
On one screen, a brutal battle between two men played out clearly. Fists smashed like hammers, blood splattering like heavy rain on the glass. On another screen, a great war raged. Thousands of armed soldiers, arrows splitting the sky, cannonballs striking and tearing through bodies mercilessly.
On the third screen, several individuals fought in unnatural ways, using strange abilities. A man strolled through the battlefield, his body growing to the size of a giant, like a living mountain, crushing dozens of enemies in seconds with his bare hands.
On the fourth screen, a woman in a red dress stood amidst a sea of flames, controlling them like a goddess performing a death dance. She raised her hand, and the wave of fire devoured every soldier around her, reducing them to ashes. Another figure soared through the air, dodging lethal attacks with beautiful acrobatic moves, like an eagle in flight.
"This is Deus ex Desire," Amadeus's cold voice shattered Rudi's focus. "A grand stage. A battle royale for the players, the chosen ones blessed with a heavenly system, the power to fight and destroy one another."
The recordings on the screens continued, blood, fire, chaos. Those extraordinary figures clashed with unbelievable power, leaving nothing but ashes and ruins behind.
"The life-or-death battle of 18 players," Amadeus continued. "Until only one remains standing as the champion. And that champion is entitled to the desires of power, wealth, fame, anything their heart wishes for."
Rudi swallowed, his eyes still glued to the screens. "Player?" he muttered softly, almost to himself.
"Player," Amadeus repeated, satisfied. "They are chosen at random. Noble or commoner. Corrupt or saintly. Old or young. Healthy or disabled. There are no special criteria. The only thing required is... desire."
Desire. The word echoed in Rudi's mind.
"That includes you, Rudi Hermanto," Amadeus added. "The disabled man who lost his hands and legs. Choosing you as a player is a crazy idea. I didn't even think you could survive your first battle."
Amadeus slowly opened his arms, like a redeemer about to embrace the soul of a sinner. "But... I can see the strong desire in your heart. A desire that will make you do whatever it takes to make it real. That's enough to offer you a chance to become a player."
Amadeus's words continued to reverberate in his mind.
Deus ex Desire? Life and death? Champion?
Like a broken cassette tape, those phrases repeated endlessly, attacking his logic, shattering his defenses.
Rudi stared at Amadeus with wide eyes. As a scientist who had always been skeptical of the supernatural, every word from Amadeus felt like an insult. It was hard for him to believe anything the envoy said.
"You're kidding, Amadeus?" Rudi asked in a quiet voice, barely audible.
Amadeus didn't laugh. He returned Rudi's gaze with cold eyes, as if Rudi's emotions and doubts weren't worth his attention. "I won't offer this chance twice," he said sharply.
"Rudi Hermanto, are you willing? To join Deus ex Desire, fight until you become the champion, and make your desires a reality?"
The words hit Rudi like a whip, cutting through the doubt in his heart. There was something in the way Amadeus spoke that made him almost believe the promise that if he won Deus ex Desire, his wishes would come true.
Rudi stared at Amadeus seriously, swallowing hard, trying to calm his racing heart. "Amadeus," he called with hope in his voice.
"Before I answer, I want to ask one thing," his voice was hoarse, showing the doubt in his heart.
Amadeus grinned, already knowing that this question would come from Rudi's lips.
He nodded. "Ask."
"Can you bring the dead back to life?" Rudi paused, his voice dropping.
"No. More precisely... can you bring back my Sinar? Make him live again?"
Sinar. The name hung in the air, filling the room with a weight of unspeakable emotion. For a moment, even Amadeus fell silent. He held back his answer, waiting for the moment when Rudi would completely place his hopes in him. It was then that Rudi's soul would be entirely under Amadeus's control, dancing in the palm of his hand.
A victorious smile spread across Amadeus's face. "Of course. That's an easy task," he said softly, full of confidence.
Rudi clenched his left fist, so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His jaw tightened, his neck muscles tensing.
"Then," Rudi said, his voice filled with determination he had never felt before. "I'm willing to join Deus ex Desire."