For some reason, his entire body ached as Bob tried to stand up. Observing his surroundings, he discovered that he no longer seemed to be in his house but some barren land devoid of any life. Not a single plant or insect could be seen in the surrounding, just plain, even land. The emptiness scared Bob more than the previous instance of humongous monsters around his house, beings capable of stripping his life away.
"Hello" A soothing, melodious voice accompanied by a blinding greenish‑white light startled Bob. Turning, he found himself staring at the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Wrapped in a white‑green shirt and silver pants stood the very personification of beauty, his silver hair messy yet radiant, caramel shade skin completely flawless, green eyes seemingly containing the stars of the universe. Yet there was something unsettling beneath the perfection: the air around him shimmered unnaturally, bending as though reality itself recoiled from his presence. His voice seemed to carry an echo, not of sound but of thought, leaving Bob feeling exposed, as if the man's gaze pierced straight into his soul.
"The events you saw today must have shaken you quite a bit. Take this pill, it should help you calm your mind." After what seemed to be several minutes, the man said in the same soothing tone, handing Bob a pill. Although usually quite an intelligent and wise fellow, Bob could not bring himself to doubt this divine person and chose to place the pill in his mouth without a tinge of hesitation. The pill tasted like a mixture of every food Bob liked in a wonderful and scrumptious blend, but the effects of the pill , as the man told, were not only limited to its taste but also in its calming effects. Bob seemed to reach a state of tranquility after taking the pill. The pill did not just suppress the emotions but seemed to have helped Bob digest those events and the heavy emotions he felt.
"So, who are you, and where am I?" Bob asked, finally able to gather the courage to speak up after having his mind calmed down. "Who I am is something that's beyond your comprehension, the knowledge of that information might just kill you, and as to where you are, that's quite simple, you are at the same place you were this morning, your home." "Huh?" was the only response that Bob could provide in response to the answer given by the man, provoking a small laugh from the man. "Well, you see, the barren land you're seeing right now is the aftermath of the clash between the Celestial Current of this world and the strange belane power that originated from your body," the man explained." That power you were able to emit earlier was quite something. There probably aren't any other mortals in the entire cosmos who could emit energy as strong as you did on the day of their awakening," he continued.
"Anyways, this all isn't what's important. You'll understand better this way," he said, placing his finger on Bob's forehead. "Here you go" were the last words that Bob heard before his vision turned dark, and he found himself back in the moment he fainted. Strange still, he could see his body lying on the ground from a third-person view. He then witnessed the purple radiance oozing out of his body, it strengthening and spreading out in the world at a speed incomprehensible to him. Anything that the light touched turned to bits in moments. He saw his house, the infrastructure outside the living and the decayed bodies, all being devoured by the light within seconds. Bob was sure had it not been for the pill he took earlier, he probably would have collapsed in horror. Bob could not fathom how he could release this power that brought nothing but harm. Yet again, Bob found his vision blackening; this time, he found himself in the epicenter of the clash of the two powers. "That should be enough", came the man's voice from beside him as Bob found himself back in the barren land.
"So now, do you get it?" The man asked with a strange smile on his face, looking at Bob, waiting for his answer. "Am I the reason for this?" Bob said, almost in a whispering voice, "Am I the reason why nearly everything and everyone on the planet is dead?" Bob's chest tightened as the weight of the world pressed down on him. Faces flickered in his mind—the little girl with green eyes, Adele's frozen expression, neighbours he once greeted with casual smiles. All of them gone, consumed by a radiance he could not control. His tears blurred the barren land. The silence around him felt like judgment, each breath a reminder of the lives erased. Even the pill's calm could not shield him from the crushing truth: he was alive, and they were not.
. "Its not your fault," said the man. "Most of this world would have died today, irrespective of your presence. There's always only a select few who manage to awaken and survive the awaking of the Celestial current of their world." "But it doesn't change the fact that I killed them." Bob protested, cutting the man off. "Well, my child, it was beyond your control and blaming yourself is not going to help anyone." the man consoled Bob in a tone which seemed too old for his looks.
"Anyways, none of this has happened yet, and it can all still be controlled." the man added, evoking another "huh?" and an expression of disbelief from Bob. "What do you mean?" Bob asked in a hopeful tone, hoping for the answer that none of that ever transpired, that the little girl never turned into a monster, and that he did not kill half the planet. "Half of what you're hoping for is true, the other half, I cannot say so" the man replied as though reading Bob's mind. "It is unfortunately true that with the awakening of the Celestial Current, your world has been thrown into chaos; most you know are probably dead, but your belane power has yet to be unleashed, therefore the world has still not turned completely upside down. Now, as long as you are able to control your power, this can go like a normal planet awakening." from what the man said till now, Bob evaluated, there probably were many worlds out there, and this man must've seen many to their ends. He probably had little care as to what happens to anyone and whosoever dies as long as everything stuck to being 'normal'. But Bob did know, that he was powerless before this man, he could not even harness the power that the man called belane within him, and something told Bob even if he could harness the power he would still be as powerless before the man standing in front of him.
"Don't be too harsh in your judgement" the man voiced, as though reading Bob's thoughts leaving him feeling bare and completely open. "Had it not been for me, You and your entire world might have been consumed by your very own belane power." The man went on with a smirk on his face. "So are you gonna fight this celestial current thing and save us all?" Bob asked the man, knowing the man had no intention to do so. " Ha ha ha" the man laughed "When passing by and spotting a stranger calling for pest control, do you fight them to protect the roaches?"
The man's words cut like blades, evoking Bob's anger, but no reply came. He stood speechless before this man who thought nothing of the lives of him and his entire world.
"So why not just let nature take its course and the world be destroyed?" he asked the man. "I would if that's what you want" the man replied, leaving Bob surprised. "You see, I usually would never concern myself with this backwater planet that falls outside my lord's domain, but I sensed something that piqued my curiosity here" the man said, eyeing Bob.
"Me?" Bob asked, getting a nod from the man as a reply. " You see, when a god ascends, and the world transforms. The belane power that the awakened ones talents can manifest is only enough to keep them from losing their sanity. Some strong ones manifest up to a few meters, even in my lord's domain; the highest a mortal has ever been able to reach is only 13 kilometers. So seeing you, who could manifest a phenomenon covering half your planet, the Belane power, even rivalling the divinity of some gods, you can see why that would make one curious." the man explained. "Even more shocking is the fact that your awakening happened in this world" he said.
"And why is that so?" Bob inquired. " You see, there is one more thing apart from you that demands curiosity. This world's god, they died mid-ascension." The man replied.