***
The march suddenly stopped after half an hour. The young man in the jacket got curious. For this reason, he tunneled through the walls made of his fellow humans to reach the front line.
Throughout this, an uncountable number of evil eyes bore holes through his body, with some even burly muscled man baring their fists at him with the intent to beat the sh*t out of him. In their eyes, he must have been a pretty damnable young man.
It was only out of the Creator's mercy that he managed to escape and reached his goal.
And lo-and-behold. His jaw dropped in amazement to the scene that greeted him.
A tall, or rather, a borderline gigantic wall of rock stood in their way. It served as a natural barrier separating the dead wastelands they were at and the lush, vibrant forest at the foot of the mountain.
There was no need to peek behind him. For sure everyone else was gazing ahead with indescribable astonishment filling their eyes. In his humble estimate, both the height and width of the giant rock was around a hundred meters. And he didn't know how he came up with that figure given that he couldn't even see how high it was. Of course, the edges were not even and rough. It's just that the side facing them was very smooth and it seemed to be something a battalion of sculptors had labored with.
The young man's Adam's apple bobbed as he looked up.
If the people at this place only had their voices, for sure the surrounding would transform into a noisy marketplace. Even he had the urge to shout in his bewilderment!
He momentarily frowned because some pieces of information popped up within his mind with origins he had no way of explaining. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. But then, he remembered that according to the newly acquired memory, the largest and tallest rock in the wall was only twenty meters in height! A mere twenty meters!
There was no ground for comparison after seeing this giant block in front of him which was easily five times the size of that one.
'Ho-ho!'
A familiar noise sounded out which caused the young man to stay still. It was the familiar neighing of horses, and speaking of horses, the only other beings with them here was the group of Werehorses supervising them.
Everyone's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when they saw so many Werehorses suddenly appearing in front. Many of them promptly turned back, only to stare ahead once again.
'Damn! Even the monsters located at the farthest reach of this march actually teleported? Did they really all run from the back? As expected of the ancestors of all horses in the world... They all instantly gathered in one spot only to speak their alien language...'
The youth slapped both his cheeks. And it was to no avail because it hurts! He was awake, not turning nuts from too much hallucination!
He was yet to recover from the shock when another fantastical thing happened. The werehorses stopped neighing.
A huge branch slowly bent over upon the tall rock and it was coming from a very tall and massive tree. People's jaws once again reached the dry soil below. Due to the huge rock earlier, they forgot that a forest was behind it, and all the trees from there seemed more than a hundred meters tall too. One of the trees even seemed alive, its branch reaching out to them.
If this scene was not jaw-dropping, then what?
Son of vegetables. He could no longer understand this world. His human brain only knew he was witnessing something out of the norms.
A weird march where the participants don't tire, as if they have unlimited stamina.
A type of creature called werehorses that previously only lived in myths, folktales, and horror stories.
A giant rock... which should be the most normal out of all the abnormalities he had seen.
A, scratch that, many gigantic trees beyond the tall rock... with one of the trees currently attempting a normal 'hi' with the people below.
And a beautiful missy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, boarding the moving branch while wearing a beautiful gown that covered her body with only the ankle visible. The gown was decorated with many types of gems, gold, and pearls. Her dark green body-hugging clothing was also painted with seemingly live plants and flowers. On her head was a pretty tiara encrypted with so many small black diamonds. The tiara was the only accessory on her body.
The pretty woman remained sitting on the branch. In front of her, a lone butterfly flew in front of her. She watched as it flew across her, a smile blossoming from her lips. Only when she saw the butterfly landed on the flower on her shoulder did she give a close look at the sea of people below.
Everyone blinked. The woman's eyes were so pretty that they failed to see the mocking and belittling gaze she was giving all of them. The woman's lips parted. And as if under a spell, they all tacitly waited for her to speak.
"Congratulations, humans. You did well in reaching the territory of the sacred mountain of Balatukan. Please let your heart be at ease. Everyone can speak now. Because all of you have qualified to participate in a sacred assessment where each and everyone will be given a chance to uncover the stored fate meant for them."
After the woman slowly enunciated those words, only one word came to every human's mind.
"A goddess..."
"Once upon a time, it was known that the God of Fire, who was one of the oldest Anitos in the Skyworld, hated the Devils so much because these creatures' ruler, and if one might say, the greatest ruler in history, had killed his beloved wife, a demi-god who used to hold the Law of Harvest."A voice echoed in a small dark room that was being occupied by two people. Two men. One wearing a red cloak that appeared to be burning and flowing at the same time, like lava. The other was wearing a pure white knight garment that seemed to be from the medieval times. The face of the former was hidden by his cloak plus he was bowing a little so his features were not visible. As for the other, the knight appeared to be not afraid to be recognize hence he did not even wear a mask to this meeting. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, and fairly handsome. However, that face of his was not what people who knew a little about history would notice, but the insignia on his breastplate, a symb
The Goddess actually had no use for the weak anito called Ley. Yet at the same time, she was not one to back out from her words. Although she sometimes do not play by Heaven's rule, she was one to demand equivalent exchange when needed. In other words, she was one who always upheld fairness.Her vow from almost a year ago was only to protect and provide guidance for Ley, the unknowing human whose fate had been severed completely from the Underworld due to her bet with Mayari. The young human forever lost the chance to reincarnate so as compensation, she used one of her quotas in ascending a being to godhood as compensation. She did the same to the old man who had been dragged to the mess. Of course, another questionable karma that she gained for doing these was causing Ley and Fernando to be rejected by the natural Laws since they did not become anitos through their own efforts. As another compensation, She decided to leave one of her mortal vessels there to act as thei
"Welcome back, Your Highness." Loud and clear, the voices of everyone else in the place echoed at the same time."We're most gladdened to be in Your Highness' presence again." They chorused.Ley slowly lifted his gaze up and saw that the person they greeted matched the appearance that was in his memories.A body of a girl in her late teens. Black hair that reached past her waist. Lean figure that was almost as skinny as some models in regular fashion shows. A face that was certainly above average, but not that excessive as to make one feel that she was the most beautiful in the world.Hana's figure appeared right above the statue depicting the Goddess of the Sun, a statue of a beautiful woman in a flowing dress crowned with a tiara shaped like the rays of the sun. The statue was massive and was in a giving pose, with her hands stretched outwards like it was offering the sun to the world. Hana appeared in those stretched out palms.
Time passed. In the mortal realm, a week had already gone by.Ley and Baram who had come to the western side of the globe to meet the Goddess was met with utmost care in their reception there. Ley had a hunch that the Goddess predicted that he would come here, either to give thanks or ask for Fernando's location so She left a message to the ones in the Blood Lake Castle to welcome them in.However, like Fernando who was made to wait for the Underworld god, they too, were made to wait for the return of the Goddess as she had long left before they arrived and the servants left there had no idea when she would drop by. These all brought endless frustrations to Ley. Yet he was not one with a close mind. He knew that the affairs of somebody high up like Hanan was not something that normal deities like him could imagine. Not to mention that Baram and the others in the castle already explained how serious of a matter an attempted Devil Sacrifice was.
"Home, huh?" The werehorse anito servicing under the Chief Deity of the Underworld, Sitan, was a bit absentminded as he recalled the conversation he just had with the human anito brought to the palace by his god. A few hours already passed since then. The werehorse anito had also just finished his duties and made sure that the entire palace was spotlessly clean and organize.The person he just spoke to was just a weak old human who possessed the Gift to command animals which was not really impressive as there were a few already who had the same ability, not to mention, those who hailed from the animal species had better control of those they could command.Nothing was interesting about the old human anito. Although he was silent about it, as he was one who was loyal to the Chief Deity and was extremely conscious not to question the deity's words, in his heart, he was actually wondering why His Highness became interested in Fernando to the point that he personally
While the two immediately set off for another country, they had no idea that the very reason that they were doing so was not really in danger, unlike what they had been assuming all this time.Fernando was just really teleported to another place so that a proper conversation could take place between them without interruption. He was in good condition and was even invited to the best and grandest place in the Underworld, the Palace of Soul owned by none other than His Highness Sitan himself.As for the reason why? Who knows.The old man did not ask. After discovering the identity of the other, he became very silent, and careful with his words. Or rather, he would not dare ask the man his real purpose for doing this since like Ley to the presence of the angel, Fernando immediately became cautious and conscious of his own status as he had learned that the person was not merely a strong anito, but an actual Underworld god.'What are th