[Stage - 1150]
[Remaining Player - 01]
[The Battle between Heaven and Earth]
The air on the mountain was fresh, and it smelled like orange trees instead of blood and smoke for the first time in ten long years.
A huge river fell from the very top of the rocky peak and crashed down into a beautiful blue pool below.
The surrounding area was packed with green trees, and the sound of little animals chirping could be heard echoing all over the place.
It was a really beautiful and peaceful landscape, but it felt like a joke considering what it actually represented and how many people had to die just so one person could finally see it.
Right at the peak of the mountain stood seven glowing ethereal figures.
Their faces were totally hidden behind light, but their bodies contained a glow that only actual gods could have.
They had been standing there and looking in the same direction for the past hour, just waiting around to welcome the single player who finally reached the first-place finish line.
"Is he here yet?" one of the glowing figures asked, sounding a little bored as they looked up at the empty clouds.
Slowly and quietly, a tiny dark spot became visible high up in the clear blue sky.
But it was definitely not a human just flying down to say hello or ask for a favour.
A massive axe was swung right at them at full speed from miles above, cutting through the wind and aiming perfectly to tear the centre figure's glowing head completely apart.
"Oh?" the God of Life said casually and simply raised his finger as the spinning axe stopped dead in mid-air.
Right behind the weapon came a human who had somehow figured out how to fly through the sky using high-level skills.
He snatched the axe right out of the air as he flew past it and went straight for an attack, aiming right for the god's neck.
Shiing.
An invisible barrier stopped the blade from connecting as the seven gods all raised their hands and aimed their fingers right at his throat.
"Human, do you not want to receive your blessings?" the God of Life asked in a calm voice.
The human floating in the air was a dark-haired youth named Gene, and he looked like hell after clearing over a thousand stages.
He was wearing completely broken armour that was barely hanging onto his shoulders, and red blood was splashed all over his face and chest, with only a single arm left attached to his body, and he looked at the seven glowing beings like they were the biggest idiots he had ever seen in his entire life.
'Rewards?' Gene thought, his mind struggling to even process the absolute audacity of that question after everything he had been through.
'Are they seriously offering me a prize package right now after wiping out my entire species?'
Gene spat blood on the ground in front of them.
"After killing us and forcing us to suffer for ten years, you are giving out these fuckass rewards?" Gene yelled, his voice rough and completely broken from years of screaming.
He did not even bother pulling his axe back for another swing because he knew a regular weapon would not work against a divine shield.
Instead, Gene moved his head way back and slammed his own forehead right into the invisible shield with everything he had left in his tired body.
Crack.
He head-smashed the barrier so hard that he actually felt his own skull crack under the skin, but the invisible wall also showed a tiny spiderweb fracture.
"You arrogant fuckers, I will kill you all," Gene promised through his teeth.
He repeatedly smashed his bleeding forehead into the barrier again and again, ignoring the pain and the blood running down into his eyes until a crack finally appeared in the air, and he drove his only arm to land a hit.
The God of Life's hidden face actually widened in surprise as Gene finally landed a solid, bloody fist right on his cheek.
It was surprisingly strong, carrying the weight of a decade of pure hatred, and was actually enough to make the all-powerful god take a full step backwards.
"Wonderful," the God of Life said, his voice shaking just a little bit as he reached up to touch his bruised cheek and took the damage with a weird smile.
"Just look at how far our little subject has come."
Gene looked around at all seven figures, but none of them was even paying any real attention to his anger or his pain.
They were just looking at him like a fascinating science experiment that had finally run a maze correctly, just like they always did whenever they watched humanity struggle down below.
He realised right then that punching them was never going to be enough to fix this messed-up game.
Gene's body slowly started dissipating.
[Player Gene is Eliminated.]
'I'm not going to be your pawn again.' Gene thought as he took a bottle with black liquid and drank it in front of them.
[Existence Flame]
'A potion that erases a person's existence, wiping out his identity in this timeline so that gods can't resurrect him again.'
His entire body immediately caught on fire, but it was a black fire that began turning his skin to ashes as his eyes locked onto the God of Life one last time, focusing on that arrogant face as his vision faded into nothing.
'I'm sorry, Elena. I couldn't finish the game.'
[God of Fate was amused by your determination]
➢ [Good morning players]
➢ [Re: Genesis Begins in an hour]
➢ [Please prepare for the trial]
Gene woke up with a gasp.
His head pounded with the worst headache of his entire life as he stared up at a cracked white ceiling.
'What?' he thought in total confusion.
'There was a message at the time of his death, but he couldn't remember it.'
He quickly brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes, surprised to see he still had his hands.
The pain of being cut to pieces still buzzed deep in his nerves but his body was completely whole.
He rolled out of the bed and almost fell over as he looked around the small room.
There were old clothes on a chair and some dirty dishes on a wooden desk.
It was his old apartment in the city.
The place he lived before the sky changed, and he was transported to Genesis.
He grabbed his phone from the desk to look at the time.
The screen lit up and showed the camera view by accident.
A weak-looking guy with messy black hair stared back at him. He looked so young without the scars, and then his eyes landed on the date in the top corner of the screen.
He had actually travelled ten years back in time an hour before it started.
Gene threw the phone on the bed and ran out the door.
He went to the rooftop to see a screen in the sky that displayed the countdown in a big, graphic-like screen.
[00:59:00]
It was exactly one hour before the first trial would start.
Down below on the crowded streets, people were walking to work and stopping to point up at the giant numbers.
They were probably taking pictures for social media and wondering if it was some kind of movie promotion.
None of them had any idea that their regular lives were completely over.
Gene walked slowly to the edge of the roof and rested his hands on the wall.
He was not going to run away this time.