An unknown amount of time before.
Inside an ancient great hall with a large circular table standing in its middle, a single individual sat lonely on a chair, her colorful hair cascading down her slim shoulders akin to rainbows.
This individual was none other than Etia, Goddess of Rivalry and Contests, or shortly, Goddess of Games.
Whoosh!
While Etia was sitting in silence on a small golden chair with her eyes closed, suddenly a figure emerged from the shadows behind her.
"Have you found anything?"
The masked figure standing behind Etia, named Enas, slowly fell to one knee and lowered his head. Then, in a voice that was neither feminine nor masculine, it began to speak;
"My Master, he is back."
In that very instant as Enas' words fell, Etia's eyes snapped wide open and appeared before the kneeling servant with a face as serious as death.
"Where?"
"As far as I can tell, he is back to his world, Earth, my Master."
"Earth?" Etia narrowed her eyes before she spun around and waved her hand.
Whoosh!
With a white flash, suddenly an orb appeared floating right above the wooden table before Etia, its body glowing with gentle white light akin to a star.
"Show me Area E-09223."
Whoosh!
In the next second, the beautiful sight of Earth in the middle of space materialized on the orb's surface.
"Locate Participant Number 69,311,011,369," Etia spoke with indifference and watched as the image began to zoom, and quickly, the figure of a handsome individual standing before a massive red gate in the middle of a vast desert appeared.
"Found you!" Etia's eyes narrowed even more and watched as Raven, alongside 7 other individuals entered the Crimson Gate.
"World of Reflections, huh? Despite not having the qualification to challenge that Realm Game, you are still stubborn to do so. Courting death!" Etia snorted coldly as she decided to watch Raven's performance with contempt in her eyes.
However, the moment she noticed Raven throwing his dice, coincidentally getting an item that put him at a great advantage against the creatures within that Realm Game, her expression quickly changed.
"Don't tell me..." with shock, Etia stared at Raven with utter disbelief before her face contorted into great anger.
"That bastard... Does he even have any idea what he has done?! He is gambling everything on something he has no chance to win!"
With those words, Etia closed her eyes before she filled her lungs with air and exhaled deeply.
"Enas, go and find that bastard. I don't care whether you have to force him or not, bring him here!"
"I will do my best, my Master." Enas nodded and like a ghost who was not even there a second ago vanished into empty air.
"As for you... You have made the biggest mistake you could have ever done in your life." Etia hissed coldly, her body slowly breaking and scattering into fragments, which if one took a closer look would realize were little and colorful butterflies.
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[You are nothing but a disgrace to us, Gods!]
Upon hearing the cold but at the same time familiar voice, Raven's already pale face turned even paler.
'Curse this! I must get out of here!'
Raven immediately understood things have turned from bad to worse and that he has to escape no matter what or else he will be dead in seconds!
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Current Chances to escape: 0.00001% (Max: 1%)
Available Luck Energy to manipulate: 37%
Needed Mystique to activate Luck Manipulation: Too many units to count
<Not Possible!>
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'...'
Hope that still lingered within Raven now completely got shattered, losing it completely.
[I see. So that is his aim. A modified bloodline that grants you this kind of power.]
Etia's voice rang quietly in the Empty World before she snorted coldly again.
[Too bad. Not only do you lack any God Core but your modified bloodline is not even complete yet!]
[No wonder you are this weak despite being one of us. You are nothing but a disgrace, worse than a mortal. No, you are lesser than that, a mongrel.]
[And for that reason, you deserve nothing else but... death!]
At that very moment, as Etia said those words, Raven felt the pressure falling on his body triple, instantly causing his body to give up all resistance and fall, getting pressed to the ground flat like a frog!
'F...ucking... bitch...' Raven wished to curse out loud, however, as he was unable to open his mouth he couldn't.
No, even if he would have been able to open his mouth, the only thing coming out of his mouth would have been a deep groan filled with nothing but pain!
[Etia, that is enough.]
[Huh?]
Suddenly, just as Raven thought that all his bones will be crushed and his body will turn into meat paste, suddenly another voice appeared in the sky, one that despite sounding calm and soothing carried firmness that for some reason no one dared to disobey.
It felt like whatever that voice told was absolute and must be followed just like an eternal oath that if one broke must face the grave consequences!
[M-My Lord... Why-]
Etia's eyes widened when she recognized the voice, her whole body trembling from both fear and excitement.
[Etia, I said that is enough. Let him go.]
[But... My Lord, he is...]
[I know what you may think, but I don't care. So please, don't make me repeat myself for the third time... Let him go.]
Sensing the hint of annoyance and anger in the voice that spoke, Etia clenched her teeth and with eyes filled with reluctance, she waved her hand like an angry child, causing Raven, who at the moment was both puzzled and shocked, to vanish from sight.
[Good. Also, I prohibit you and everyone else to lat even a single finger on that boy, understood?]
[...]
Etia stood in one place without replying, however, once she felt a distinctive sensation sweep through her body, her face paled as if she had just seen a ghost, and quickly nodded her head.
[I-I promise...]
[Promise what?]
The voice asked, this time for some reason filled with a hint of chilling coldness.
[I... I promise that none, including myself, will lay a finger on him and if I dare to break my promise, I will end my life with my own hands!]
[Good, much better.]
The voice hummed with satisfaction and the whole Empty World became silent once again.
When feeling the invisible power that assaulted her body finally vanishing, Etia raised her hands before her chest and sighed with relief.
However, soon her face changed into anger once again and starting at the spot where Raven had been a moment ago she clenched her fingers into fists.
"Mongrel..."
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Feeling as the space twisted around his body, teleporting him outside the Empty World, Raven watched as the scenery around him suddenly changed, turning into a large clearing with a vast desert visible in the distance.
"Raven!"
While lying on the ground motionlessly with every part of his body aching with pain, Raven watched as a beautiful figure wearing stylish silver armor ran beside him, looking at him with eyes full of worry.
However, once she noticed he was fine, and even was able to push himself up slowly from the ground, the worry quickly vanished and turned into relief.
"I will help you, come." Luna gently grabbed Raven by his arm and helped him up.
"Thank you." Raven showed a weak smile before he directed his gaze at the 8 individuals standing not far away from him, each of them staring at him with utter disbelief.
"What?" looking at the faces of the 8, Raven felt confused only te realize why they were staring at him the way they did.
'Oh... That's why.'
"Raven... You... How... How did you do it?"
'Thought so.' Raven sighed silently when he heard Arthur's question before he shrugged and said, "I had a powerful Relic that granted me invincibility for a short period, allowing me to kill those bastards."
"Had?" Canwin raised a brow when he noticed Raven spoke in the past tense.
"Yeah, had." Raven nodded and continued to spit bullshit, "It was a Relic I have obtained after completing a Hidden Quest in the past. However, unfortunately, it could be used only once, so even if you ask me to show you I can't do it."
And to further make them believe his lie, he changed his expression and sighed with grief, almost as if he had just lost something very important to him.
The only one who was not buying his act was Luna, who secretly even rolled her eyes and if it were not for the others being there she would have even busted Raven.
"But you had your Avatar Totem. Using such a rare Relic, and a powerful one at that... what a waste." Dax sighed softly before his expression turned into admiration.
"However, because of you, we have conquered another Crimson Gate. We will definitely get a hefty amount for this, haha!"
"Yeah, so we are all grateful to you. We owe you one." Min Chen nodded, currently smiling at Raven charmingly.
As for the rest, they just simply nodded in agreement, expressing their gratitude toward Raven with words full of admiration and appreciation.
After all, the number of rewards and bonuses they will be able to get now will be tremendous!
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