“He is coming…”

I did not know who or what was coming but somehow, the dread within me rose, clinging to my heart with such force that I could not even breathe. Within seconds my face turned pale as I struggled for air.

I tried to get out of the room but failed to as my grandfather grabbed my hands.

“Wha-?” I did not know how he did it but the next words that escaped his lips shook my entirety like never before.

“We don’t have much time Tim.” His voice was low and his face carried a terrified expression. It was as if some ghost was chasing him. “Genesis… It is happening.”

My eyes widened in horror as my hands trembled. My brain refused to believe what my ears just picked up.

Genesis was just a mere yet catastrophic idea I never implemented in this novel. But how did he know about it? No one in this world should be aware of it except me.

‘What the hell is going on…?’ I asked in a petrified tone, gripping his hands tightly. “How do you know about it?”

“He t-old me…”

“Who is he?” I raised my tone, leaning towards the old man. “Tell me, who are you talking about?”

“I do not kn-ow.” Grandpa mumbled, gazing at the ceiling above his head. “He told m-e to… tell you…”

“What are you talking about?” There was no clarity in his words and without it, I had no clues to go anywhere. “Who is he? What is he?”

“Take it…” He mumbled again.

Soon the ring on his finger which had a black gem molded in it glowed. It emitted a strange light and began melting like it was made of some metal.

It slowly made its way towards the edge of his finger and jumped onto mine before wrapping around my ring finger.

Click-

A sudden jolt of electricity spread through my body as the ring adjusted itself and the glow disappeared.

Now it was in my hand and no matter how I tried it did not buzz. It was stuck.

“What the hell is this?” I asked the old man who now carried a melancholic smile on his lips.

Everything was happening around me and I was just observing like a bystander.

I had no idea what the hell this thing even was, what was it called? Who the hell was he?

Sigh-

“At least tell me who is he?” I sighed. My unrealistic grandfather seemed like the only one who knew something and getting angry at him won’t lead me anywhere. “Please gramps…”

In return for my words, he stayed silent but soon raised his hand and chanted some words I was unable to make out.

The temperature of the room immediately dropped as small shards of ice began to form in thin air followed by grains of sand around his hands.

Next, the room shook a little as sparks of electricity radiated from his hand and touched everything around us, but did no harm.

The air too reacted to this unseen phenomenon and began converging, creating a small maelstrom where the other three elements took part.

I could feel the mana swirl violently and move towards him but did not know what he was doing.

The vortex picked up pace shaking the room, throwing everything here and there, but the smile on his face never left.

“What are you doing?” The sheer display of mana manipulation was impressive but the reason was still unknown to me.

“Calling the Gods!”

He said with a soft smile as the four elements made their way into his hand.

Earth took the shape of a stick, electricity danced around it, water wrapped, and finally, the air congregated.

I could now see something form, but the light this process emitted almost blinded my eyes.

The room became so bright that I could not but shut my eyes tight and cover my face with my hands.

The temperature too rose significantly as the entire structure shook again.

Crack!

The windows cracked with a loud sound.

Boom!

Another loud noise struck my ears as the room decompressed rapidly.

“What the hell is all this?”

I pry open my eyes to witness the parade of absolute power I never dreamed of seeing.

My eyes adjusted and the next moment a plethora of lights devoured my retinas.

The earth hardened as the electricity condensed within the heated blade. Water-cooled it down, trailed by the air rotating over everything at an unimaginable speed.

I did not know how many times the process repeated itself, but after some time the four elements forged an unremarkable black rod that now rested upon grandfather’s hand.

It was less than a meter long and looked like some sort of walking cane.

“What?” I muttered out loud; my astonishment gone in an instant.

Also, the magnificent display of mana imputation was long gone by now as the torn room came into clear view.

“Why?” I did not understand how that God-level exhibition was for a mere black rod. I mean, it had to be something big, not just an ordinary stick.

“Here.”

He forwarded the rod to me, but I was a little hesitant. “I don’t even know what it is?”

“Just take it!” He said gently, voice carrying so much weight that I could not deny.

‘I want to know what it is anyway.’

So, with a little bit of excitement and hope, I moved my hands towards the weird thing. But my fingers stopped at the very edge when I spotted something moving from the corner of my eyes.

It was a butterfly, slowly gliding through the room. Its wings released a bluish hue as it flapped them lightly.

Then it struck me.

What if touching this could change everything. What if it altered the future so much that I would lose sight of what was going on?

‘No, I can’t let that happen.’ I tried to withdraw my hands, but it was too late.

Like a living symbiote the black rod manifested into some slimy substance and like the ring hopped onto my hand.

“No!” I fell back from the stool but it touched me anyway.

Snap—!

My body jerked. I could not see nor feel anything as my legs hovered for a split second before I was thrown backward at lightning-fast speed.

I broke through the walls and flew towards the sky like a ragdoll with no control over my body.

"Oh, God… Oh, God…. What's happening…. This isn't real, this is not real...No… No…."

I screamed on top of my lungs but soon my movements slowed as I reached the endless space from where the vast earth was visible.

I didn't know how I was able to breathe or see everything but it was possible.

Looking around the same butterfly came into view, but this time it was within my hand’s reach. Out of pure curiosity, I touched it and the hell let loose.

The world around me blurred and wrapped into an enormous black hole, dragging me along the way.

"Son of a…No…No…"

I sailed like a lifeless body, inside of what seemed like a tunnel of neon lights with no end.

Like a camera taking pictures, the tunnel shimmered with flashes of many colors threatening to blind me.

"Wooo…" My body stabilized and speed increased until Anniliese spoke in my ears.

"What is happening… what is going on…"

My forward momentum came to a sudden halt. But now I was thrown backward like a bolt, shot from a trebuchet.

"Shittttt!"

Reality unfolded as I entered the hemisphere and suddenly fell into the old man’s room.

My legs skidded on the floor as my butt reached a chair.

Breathing heavily, I gazed at my entire family who returned the gaze with a concerned look in their eyes.

Instantly grandfather appeared out of nowhere standing on his feet. He looked directly into my eyes with a poker face.

"He looks alright to me."

I couldn't comprehend his words as the world around me enfolded. Once again, I was shifted into the same neon tunnel.

"Aaaaaaaaa…."

I soared like a meteor with no control over my body nor over my mind. I was going crazy.

"Fuck… Fuck… fuckkkkkkkkkkk…"

Flash!

Another flash and my surroundings reformed. A pitch-black passage with a very narrow light at the end came into view.

"No…"

Getting through that tiny hole was impossible but my body didn't stop.

"No… no…no…"

I embraced myself to collide with the outer walls but strangely my body whizzed past it.

“Yes…” I took a quick breath of relief but that did not last long as I headed into a volcano with lava erupting everywhere.

“Fuck your black stick….”

I roared, accepting my end, but death did not come. I went through and entered a void that had mountains upon mountains filled with it.

I thought I was going to pass through, but something grabbed my leg and with a sudden jolt, I became immobile.

“What…”

A hand clutched my ankle followed by thousands of hands appearing simultaneously trying to do the same thing.

“Hey… hey… hey…”

Suddenly my fingers sprouted into many other small fingers. Rapidly they came out all over my body, completely engulfing me.

Boom!

The roller coaster began again as I drifted forward leaving those miniature hands, but towards my own giant self made of the same hands.

“This is not…”

That suction did not let me finish my words as I was sucked into the enormous eyes of my colossus self.

The insides looked like a futuristic tunnel with too many LEDs strapped up top and an unreal amount of bluish smoke covering everything.

“Woooooo…”

Like a fighter jet breaking through the sound barrier, I entered that channel, gusted past the fume, and finally collided with an enormous mirror.

Crack!

The mirror broke into a million pieces as my nails touched and I entered a dimension filled with mirrors.

I observed thousands upon thousands of my reflections looking at me with terrified contemplations.

“Am I crazy?”

My thoughts lasted for a few seconds as the entire mirror dimension vanished into nothingness and I fell into the rabbit hole of screaming.

“Shiiiiiitttttttt!”

My body rotated irrepressibly with me losing consciousness till someone hit the brakes.

I hit some sort of invisible boulder out of nowhere as my pace slowed promptly.

Ugh--!

Groaning in pain I tried to fix my disoriented view but my body kept moving, more like leisurely gliding through what looked like hell.

Universes were torn apart, planets were burning, some were in pieces and some were in ashes. Everything was consumed by obscurity.

Wherever I looked death, destruction, and chaos haunted my vision.

I was guided like a visitor through the eternal ruins and was presented with something so frightening that I could not bear witness it.

It had a head that spanned over a million kilometers, two eyes that burned like hellfire, and an eye on the forehead that intimidated to consume my very soul.

That being looked at me, as his eyes scorched brighter.

The dread within me magnified, it clenched my very soul as my entirety trembled. I was beyond scared.

This seemed like the real God… The God of Hell. And for some reason, I was getting too close to him.

“Noooooooo….”

Yelling louder than ever I closed my eyes. I prayed to the heavens that they forgive all my sins and accept me.

Snap!

I opened my eyes, finding myself floating in hell, in the utter darkness.

My head was empty. I could neither think, nor speak anything. That horrendous face kept repeating in my head.

“Wake up, Tim!”

The world around me converged immediately as a murky vacuum appeared taking everything in.

My body traversed through the nothingness and I was falling again, towards my home.

“Aaaaaa…”

Just like I left, I came back breaking the same wall and reaching the same room.

Bam!

I rolled on the floor several times and hit the wall.

“F-or Go-d’s sa-ke… Wh-at t-he actu-al f-uck?” I managed to stammer out, standing on my feet after multiple tries.

“So… how was the tour?” The elder asked with a pensive look in his eyes.

"You son of a…"

My already heavy head was heavier as my body stirred rearward. I lost balance, hitting the wall behind me.

“Th-a-t hurt-s…” I squeaked in pain as my senses faded and inconspicuousness engulfed my vision.

‘He is really coming…’