Lv1 Skeleton

I was giving him the usual near death experience, when suddenly he threw himself at Krishna, choosing death. I tried to pull back the sword, but it all happened too fast and I was too late.”

“Huh… so Harpok chose to die.”

“Perhaps, I’m not so convinced that he actually died though.”

“He’s still alive? How do you know?”

“It seems to be one of his abilities, we can see his other life through his eye. I brought his body over.”

Thanatos presented Harpok’s corpse with a grievous wound to its side; however his eye shown like a bright crystal, projecting his new life which was like watching a movie.

“Is that Earth? It seems a bit similar to what it would look like in the future.”

“According to the scene, It looks like a depiction of Earth right before the cataclysm.”

“Right? Are they the parents, did Harpok reincarnate into a baby? Please take a look and figure out where it is Harpok escaped to.”

“Got it!”

I order Lena to research the scene captured on his eyeball.

“Who were you talking to, Master?”

Thanatos asked questioningly.

“Ah, I was giving Lena the image to analyse.”

“Lena, you mean those automated magical maids? Wasn’t she supposed to be back in the dungeon manor? Can she also exist in the water? I feel a bunch of aquatic life all around me.”

“Are you truly able to sense life, Thanatos?”

“Naturally, I feed off death so the ability to sense life is a must”

“Is that all we are to you, prey?”

I felt a bit uncomfortable being next to Thanatos since her recent transformation, especially that creepy smile.

“You have nothing to worry about, Master. When your time comes I’ll make sure you have a beautiful death.”

“Uhm… actually I plan on living a long and healthy life.”

“It’s fine, I’ll be waiting.”

“Right… so did you get any information out of Harpok?”

“I’m not sure how important the information I got was. He’s been feeding me so much nonsense for so long that it became hard to distinguish.”

“Okay, so what did you learn?”

“Well the most important bits are probably those about your Fallen class, Artifacts, the background of your necklace and the politics between the High Gods. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“They all sound pretty juicy, let’s start with the necklace.”

“Heehee, I expected you’d be interested in that part. He seemed to know quite a lot as he was knowledgeable regarding items. What should I start with, the story behind the necklace, the rules regarding its curses, or the stories of the Gods which managed to achieve Godhood with its help.”

“Start with the necklace’s background. Learning its origins should help us better understand it.”

Thanatos’ lips curled into a smile.

“It’s identity is actually that of a God which was a follower of Metatron. He was then transformed into that necklace. His name was Maitreiya , God of Ascendance and was in fact Metatron’s twin brother.”

“What? He turned his own brother into such a thing?”

Did Gods even treat their own families like tools? It was quite awkward to know that the necklace I was carrying around with me this whole time was in fact a powerful God.

“Yes, although he was Metatron’s brother, it is said that he betrayed and was spying for the High Gods. For this reason he was turned in to this necklace and could only be released after having 100 individuals turn to Gods through the neckalce’s power.

“Wow, then how many have there been so far?”

“As far as Harpok was aware there have been 66 so far. They were all Metatrons followers, but some have already fallen. Right now there are only the remaining four, but they’ve all been sealed in dungeons.”

“Ah, so it’s confirmed that they are in the four legendary dungeons?”

“Yes, according to Harpok the four dungeons were created to prevent the destruction of the world and promote the evolution of life.”

“Yes, I think Jeduth had told me something similar. That the dungeons were desinged by the High Gods to imprison some dangerous monsters.”

“Right, something like that, Master.”

Thanatos gave me a smile, making the situation a bit awkward. Her smile on such a pale face was more than a it creepy.

“It’s good that our information lines up, then what about the necklace’s rules?”

I quickly tried to change the mood.

“Have you heard about Divine Grace”

“Yes, I think I remember something about that.”

“Hmm… I don’t know much about it myself but I’ll try to explain what I’ve understood from Harpok.”

“Okay.”

“Divine Grace is formed as a result of interactions between living beings. Magic is comes from the elements, but Black magic depends on Divine Grace.

“Hmm… so it’s connected to all living creatures.”

“Divine Grace also determines the direction which a certain race might evolve and how much they can level up.”

“Oh, well I had guessed that much based on my own experiences.”

“Divine Grace is also the single greatest power a God can harness and wield. In order to collect that Divine Grace, the sacrifice of Life around the universe. And so, began one of the greatest wars in history as the Gods created factions and fought over the available Divine Grace.”

“Hm… its seems the I will also need to fight for my slice of the power.”

“That great war lasted for a very, very long time, until finally two major powers brought it to an end.”

“Metatron and Skyfather?”

“You know those two?”

“Well one I actually crossed path with and the other I’ve heard about in passing. Anyways, please continue your explanation.”

“Right, so Metatron wanted to completely regulated all aspects of life so as to be in full control of this power; whereas Skyfather wanted to let sentient beings like humans breed freely, so as….”

“Wait, did you say breed?”

“Yup, from a God’s perspective, mortals are just livestock bred for the purpose of creating Divine Grace.”

“Wha…what arrogance!”

“Is it though? Anyway, as you well known that war ended when Metatron’s faction was defeated and he was chased out into a different dimension.”

“So we’ve learned quite a lot. It seems that this Divine Grace is at the root of a bunch of things like experience, evolutions and even the power of the Gods.”

“Yes, and this necklace plays the role of amplifying Divine Grace. Most living creatures can only absorb a limited amount of Divine Grace, but once you wear this necklace that cap is basically non-existent and you can steal the Divine Grace of other creatures.”

“Is it basically acts as an amplifier for Divine Grace?”

“Yes, but before receiving that power, you are first cursed. The type of curse and how much Divine Grace can be obtained differs from person to person.

“That’s why you became a God of Death”

“In my case it was based on the numerous deaths and revivals, which was only possible due to Master’s help. According to Harpok it is quite rare for one to retain their personality after ascending to Godhood. He mentioned that a God’s power must have interfere during my ascension that allowed me to remain relatively unchanged.

“A power similar to a God…”

I recalled the Resurrection Song which I had cast at the very end and had mixed in with that dark power which helped her ascend to Godhood. If that had not been the case perhaps Thanatos would have killed me immediately upon awakening.

“Do you have any idea why that is, Master?”

“Uhm, not for the moment, why don’t you continue your story?”

“Well that seems to be all Harpok knew about the necklace. Even after torturing him to the very limit he couldn’t reveal anything more.”

“I see, well it has already been very insightful.”

“Yes, there’s also that bit about the politics between the High Gods.”

“Oh, anything related to Metatron and Skyfather?”

“Yes, at the moment they are the two which stand at the very top of the divine hierarchy but they have been absent for quite some time. Still, Skyfather is considered to reign supreme, but there are other smaller factions of High Gods which don’t recognize his authority.”

“Oh, like which?”

“The most prominent group which calls itself Gnossian.”

“Gnossian? That rings a bell… did you find out anything about them?”

It definitely reminded me of the supreme sage Gnoss, but I didn’t want to say his name, for obvious reasons.

“It’s a very secretive order, so even among the God’s which had joined, they might not necessarily know the identities of there fellow members. Harpok was part of their group, but even after a lot of torture the only identity he seemed to know was Gaia.

“Gaia? Goddess of Nature Gaia?”

“I guess that’s the one.”

“Gaia huh… it’s not the first time I’ve come across that name. I guess that’s just one more reason to meet up. Do you know where I could find her?”

Thanatos shook her head.

“Harpok committed suicide before I could ask.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. It was important to know that.”

“I’m sorry Master, I didn’t expect his actions.”

Tanatos looked frustrated at her failure, it was quite the funny expression to see on a God of Death, so I couldn’t help but sneak in a laugh.

“No, it wasn’t your fault. By the way, where is Krishna?”

“Oh, I left it behind. I’ll go fetch it right away.”

“Wait, since you were able to carry Harpok with you, could you carry me as well?”

“Well since the path I tread is that of Death, you wouldn’t survive the transition.”

“Ah… so that is how you get around. It’s too bad I was hoping you could bring me back to the dungeon manor – Sigh.”

Seeing me look all depressed, Thanatos added. 𝒇𝑟e𝙚𝑤𝙚𝐛𝗻𝐨ν𝚎𝘭.c𝐨m

“I’ll go get Krishna at once, Master.”

“Yes.”

She vanished into thin air.

“Ah… I forgot to ask her some more questions about that land of death she travels through. I guess it’ll have to wait until next time I see her.”

The Nautilus was quite quiet, only the sound of static was heard.

With nothing to do I looked into Harpok’s eyes.

It was showing the life of a happy family. A lovely mother and caring father. A great environment for a child to grow up happily and enjoy a promising future. I silently watched it play out until Lena reported to me about two hours later.

“It’s an incredible coincidence. That video is 99% identical to what Gnoss’ house was on Earth. I compared it to the records that we had about all management related to Gamma…”

“Ah… so Gnoss is involved here too? Wait… Damn it!”

The voice which I had gone so long without having to listen to finally reappeared.

“Did you call for me, Johra?”

“Ugh!”