EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS AGO…

In a large hall of a mansion situated in Shingoth the Heavenly Plane and home of the gods, an argument raged on. The two engaged were RedRaid-one of the three most benevolent gods and eleventh ranked god, and DarkLord one of the oldest living gods and ninth ranked god. RedRaid was clad in his full set of red adamantryx plate armor with gold edges and blue markings on the front and a blue cape with gold seams on his right shoulder while DarkLord had dawned his very own set of jet-black adamantryx armor with red markings on the front. His armor had a dark red orb in its center which seemed to leak dark energy. Since they both had helmets on- even though they were in doors, it was difficult to tell from their facial expressions how angry they were. They had repeatedly engaged in heated arguments in the past, but this time was much more intense than any before. Even the other gods currently residing in Shingoth had refrained from entering the hall.

“You FOOL! You are too young to understand, you are outliving your usefulness.”

“No! YOU don’t get it old man…the more we give them, the greater they worship us. We are gods, aren’t we?”

The reason they were arguing? RedRaid had taken to giving the humans-mostly his blood descendants-weapons and equipment from the collective stash of all the gods. DarkLord, who didn't particularly like taking risks, had endured time after time of RedRaid's benevolence and had hit his breaking point.

“Giving them those should prove how stupid you really are, just because they’re your children, doesn’t mean you should give them more and more of those you fool!”

“I don’t know why you act like such a big shot around here anyway. No wonder you got kicked out of here.”

A rumor had begun a few centuries ago- before RedRaid became a god- when DarkLord moved out of Shingoth to rule over his own lands, that Kirin- the current queen of the gods- had kicked him out when in reality, he preferred to be his own ruler.

“You have tested my patience over and over but now you will receive your final answer.”

“HOLD ON!”

Bursting through the doors with incredible speed, FangFist the oldest living god in the world and fourth ranked god, sporting his signature white shirt with a falcon design on the front, silver boots with bird wings on the sides, black jeans with gold sidelines and his light blue jacket tied by the sleeves around his waist rushed to intervene.

“It’s you! You didn’t control these gods like you were supposed to! This is the final straw old man!”

“Calm down Dark my boy…sigh, what did he do now?”

Being the oldest god, he had lived through eight thousand years of war and bloodshed. He preferred living the pacifist life and settling disputes with words, but still used violence when there was no other option available. In the past, he had been worshipped as the war god and harbinger of destruction but now, he had mellowed and softened in the times of peace.

“Hey! What do you mean 'what did I do no' ?!”

He was shot glares from both DarkLord and FangFist which shut him up instantly. He knew FangFist and DarkLord each outranked him and the fear he felt in that moment was immeasurable. In the past, when he lived in Japan, he would have pissed himself easily. Now however, he only shook with fear.

“The rules were, you and that woman would control these idiots to keep the balance in the world but you keep ignoring this incompetent idiot’s acts and allow his ‘generosity’, which could shift the balance of power!”

“Well I can’t always keep an eye on them…and she’s gone to challenge him again so we couldn’t check on him.”

“He could wreck things, just because of his children. He is a threat to our lives…our very existence!”

“Please…just give him a warning?”

Why do they fear this guy anyway. The old man could kill him easily or we could at the very least take him together. Besides, they said he’s not even one of the strongest gods so why not just kill him?

“This is his fourth warning…I don’t give four warnings! It’s time he dies. Step aside old man.”

Despite the rankings and notable achievements, which were made publicly available, only the truly elite gods knew that DarkLord was the second most powerful god in the world. Second only to Zaire/Zeros, who was officially known as the third most powerful goddess.

“I’m sorry but I can’t let you do that, calm down and reconsider.”

“Hey old man, why don’t we just kill him now? We can beat him if we attack toge ”

“SILENCE YOU FOOL!! DarkLord calm down, please!”

“FangFist! OUT OF MY WAY!”

Damn, the fool made him angry again and I don’t think we can save him this time. She’s not here either…I don’t think we can take him on, even with Zerant here. What do I do now?

“If you are determined to protect him then perhaps there is no longer a need for you gods. Steel yourselves for battle!”

Crap! We die now? This fool has doomed us! I might as well fight with everything I’ve got, there is no way she can reach here in time anyway.

“Come on old man, let’s face him together!”

“Sigh, let’s do this then.”

“COME AT ME!”

………………

…………

……

Hiroshime Masayuki here, seventeen years old, normal enough highschooler, good looking I guess… oh, and not arrogant. Pretty good in academics, fun to be around, keen eye and ears and hand-to-hand specialist. I’m pretty much the perfect guy and really humble? I know.

What I look like? Well, I’m pretty average I think. I have dark blue hair with black tips on the right side, my right eye is red and the left yellow, I’m athletic enough, 184cm in height, and a strange birthmark on my right shoulder. Well since I’m dressing for school now, could you wait outside? No? Perverts!

Okay, my ideals, huh? To not have many male friends. Put simply, boys are idiots and that’s not just my thoughts, it’s a fact. I’m not gay but I like hanging around girls, who in turn like hanging out with me. Now don’t get me wrong, I do have guy friends…well, a guy friend I hang out with. Akatsuki Aoyama, my best friend since preschool, is the first and only friend I have who’s both a boy and not stupid. In fact--

“Yoo, Masayuki!”

“Aoyama…What’s up with you this morning?”

We always meet up at the Senketsu café, between our houses, and walk to school together. A short distance later, we meet up with Hana Yaoyomumo, another childhood friend from preschool we always walk with.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning.”

“Good morning Hana, you’re looking good today.”

Aoyama’s had a crush on Hana since he could speak. He tries a new line on her every morning to no avail. We both know she likes me, obviously, but I act dumb or it’s just an inferiority complex situation.

“Oh, thank you…umu…you too…”

Pretty sure she fakes the gratitude so… yeah…

“Well let’s get going guys.”

“Right.”

“Sure thing.”

After a short distance, the weather started getting colder. I could barely even walk straight.

“Dude, you also nervous of today’s test?”

“What? Of course not!”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Don’t worry about it Hana, I’m just a little cold, aren’t you guys?”

“Hmm, nope, it is a little hot actually.”

“Yeah same here, are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“I’m fi ”

“Hiroshime…”

“ Huh?”

I span around but there was nobody there. My worried friends looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.

“Hey guys…?”

I definitely heard a woman’s voice but I had to confirm.

“What’s up?”

“Huh?”

“One of you isn’t pulling one over on me right?”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Hey! I’m not either!”

“Okay, okay, just checking. Let’s get going then.”

I braved the cold so as not to worry my friends. I think Aoyama noticed though, but he didn’t say anything. We walked for a while before reaching school.

Saoryusu High, one of the most prestigious schools in the country. My dad managed to book me a spot before he passed two years ago. Honto Masayuki, my dad, was pretty smart with an eye to the future which put most psychics to shame. He used to say that he never lied because he was a demon or something like that but I stopped listening to that stuff when I was eight. He was weird at times too, and was so good at predicting things that I believed the whole demon thing when i was around fourteen.

“Masayuki!

“Hey it’s Masayuki!”

“Masayuki!!”

“Masayuki? Where? It’s Masayuki!”

It was the same every day, but I got used to it early on and managed to avoid the girls that hang around school that early in the morning. Guess I was daydreaming there. Gradually, we made it through the crowd of girls, boys giving me the stink eye, and even some female teachers who may have had a thing for me.

Eventually, it was class time. The hardest English test I had ever taken was presented to me. Normally, I would have finished the test quickly, gone through it twice, then waited patiently for the test to be over but perhaps because of the fatigue I felt from the cold, I slowly read each question over several times.

“Are you feeling alright Masayuki-kun?”

My teacher asked, obviously surprised that I wasn’t moving through it as usual.

“Oh, I’m fine. No need to worry about me.”

“Hmm, if you say so.”

I got back to the test but the words were unreadable. I had a faint sense of Déjà vu.

I remembered something my dad said to me some time ago but when i tried focusng n it, it disappeared. Since my dad's death, I found it hard to remeber things he said or did, and when I did remember, they normally vanished before I could understand.

“Masayuki…”

I heard the voice again, but this time I lifted my head slowly to scan the room. Yeah, I watch anime, there is no way I’m gonna embarrass myself like a typical protagonist.

‘Masayuki, the strange, you have been summoned to Firlat, to partake in the game of the gods, prepare to depart…’

That’s what my test read but I could understand what it was, don’t even know how. It read something along the lines:

“Masayuki, the strange, you have been summoned to Firelat land of the seven, to partake in the game of the gods, prepare to depart…”

Thinking it was just my cold playing tricks on me, I decided to raise my hand and go to the infirmary which I rarely did, but I couldn’t. My body got so weak that staying awake that day, was the hardest thing I’d ever done.

Drifting, drifting… slowly, I fell into the darkness. The cold faded gradually, the strength I was depending on to stay awake faded...descending into the darkness with me.

“Masayuki!”

“Mr. Hiroshime?!”

“Masayuki…!!”

I could hear people frantically calling out to me but I couldn’t move. I could feel someone shaking me but I couldn’t respond. I was gone…, so deep in sleep that I couldn’t be bothered by it. Gradually falling deeper into sleep, falling smoothly, then rapidly. My heart started to beat faster and faster, quickening with every breath i took.

"Masayuki..."

The voice from before called to me.

"Masayuki... Calm down..."

The voice called to me again. I could almost feel the words calming me down. Slowly, slowly, my heartbeat softened...calming breaths became second nature, it felt like the person calming me down had lived with me her whole life. Silently, silently, the sounds around me got quieter...until finally...

The noises ceased.