"You are free to do that, our dear saviour. For now, allow me to start. At first, the world was just a ball of energy until two extreme forces collided and formed everything. I am sure your world has a similar concept of how the world came into being?"
The high priest asked, and although I could not recall any exact theory that said this, the big bang theory came closest to this explanation.
Not that the high priest was waiting for me to agree or anything as he continued.
"Well, those two forces formed a being that we call god. That god gained a consciousness and formed various life forms. However, those life forms evoked emotions within the god, causing him to split into two—one that protects and one that destroys—"
"—hey wait-! Aren't you going too fast and skipping too much?"
I asked, stopping the high priest from speaking in between. But the old siren just let out a chuckle before giving me an amused look.
"Ah, but you wanted a short version, right? Don't worry, I am not cutting out anything significant. Anyway, where were we—oh yeah-! The god split itself into two, but began to struggle against its own powers. To counter this, the powers formed another being—the keeper."
"But the longer these beings spent their lives, the more lonely they became until the death part could take it no more and began to annihilate everything. To control him, both the balance and the 'good' part decided to seal him up… or that is what is said."
"As you can tell, the evil part and its followers did not like that much, and they decided to search for their god's reincarnation and break the 'good' part holding the evil back. That's why these dungeons form—as a way for them to invade the worlds and gather the fragments of their lord to birth them back."
The high priest finally finished speaking, but I was left with more questions than answers.
"Hey, I heard all your explanation, but it did not explain anything about the system or why the dungeons opened on Earth. As far as I know, our planet has nothing to do with these 'gods' until now."
I felt more and more confused as I tried to make sense of what I had just heard.
Gods of good and evil-! The creation of the universe-! What bullshit.
The high priest noticed my bad mood, but instead of backing away, he decided to continue speaking.
"Hmm, there is no place in this world untouched by the god's influence, and your planet is no exception. It was only a matter of time before you all were going to get involved anyway. Especially since the prophecy says that the god will come back in your world in their complete form."
The high priest dropped another bomb when he spoke, but something about all this still ate away at me.
I could not put my finger on what it was, but I knew that my instincts were warning me not to trust anything in the dungeon, not even the high priest.
At the same time, they also said that what I heard was the truth… at least a major part of it.
'Ugh, what a nightmare. Could someone else not have heard all this and gotten involved with this shit? All I wanted to do was live a quiet life.'
"Looks like it's getting late. Why don't you stay for the night and then head back. I am sure you are tired by now."
The high priest offered me his hospitality, but I felt the need to leave now.
"Ah, I don't think I can stay. I did not come here alone. Ah, that reminds me—what happens to the dungeons once their core gets broken?"
I asked the question, and the high priest looked at me with an amused expression.
"Hmm, what happens-? We simply return to our god's embrace and rest there until we are needed once more. As long as the one who formed the initial dungeon lives, our lives will not be vanquished either. So you don't need to worry about it."
That odd feeling struck me once more. The feeling that I had missed something crucial during this talk.
"I see. I should head back now—"
"Wait a minute. Are you not going to ask me why I called you all the way here to tell you about this? You are special. Don't you want to know why-? Don't you sometimes feel like you are not human?"
The high priest asked, hitting the nail in the coffin pretty hard.
Indeed, these were the questions that I had as well. But I chose not to ask them out loud.
"Sorry, but I would rather not hear the answer. I am thinking of heading back home and forgetting all about what happened here. So excuse me—"
I had only walked a few steps before the door to the cave slammed shut, trapping me inside with the high priest.
He was smiling, but his smile looked sinister.
"You should be a little more careful with whom you trust. Do you know that the prophecy that told us about the return of our lord said more? It said that the one favoured by the emissary of balance would become the true god."
"Can you guess who that emissary of balance is, my dear? Oh my-! But you already know, right? After all, you are unable to die. The aura of the gods surrounds you—"
Before the high priest could speak, I attacked him. My punch threw him halfway across the dungeon.
The high priest crumbled but then stood up and dusted himself off.
"See, that's what I mean. Do you think most creatures would be able to hit someone of my standing? I can feel the power brewing beneath your fingertips, ready to explode. So why don't you join us in bringing our lord back?"
The high priest asked once more, looking not even fazed by my attack.
"Tsk, and why would I do that? First, I have no intention of being your or anyone's emissary. Second, the gods have nothing to do with me. I would rather see them perish and live a quiet and ordinary life…."
"…and third, I want to return home on time."
I gathered my mana in my hand to form a small blast, but the high priest just laughed even louder.
"Running away from destiny is futile. No matter where you run off to, it will keep dragging you back to where you are needed—back to our lord's side. After all, you were his since the beginning. You were born from him and—"
The high priest collided with my power and finally his mouth quietened. When the mana faded, the high priest was no more, but somehow, his laughter echoed around me in a mocking manner.
I felt irritated, but calmed myself down.
"Tsk, what a waste of time. I have no time for gods and demons when I am too busy surviving. Also, this is a problem for someone else to handle. I don't need to put my hand in any of this mess at the moment… or ever."
I finally recalled what was bothering me about the high priest- he told me that the dungeon was formed by the 'evil' half of the gods, and they worshipped him.
So the god the high priest served was also the evil half.
'Am I being scammed or something?'