【Story】Gods & Demons Series

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 1

“Life Decoding – Manungal”

Since the sinking of primordial dragons into the land of origin, the universe had become still. Afterwards, elements started flowing from the land to the furthest sides of the space; its power somehow vitalized the remnants of the primordial dragons, which brought the land back to life following ages of withering and death.

The ample nature added vibrancy to the lonely world. At the very far end, new species were born from elements. After eliminations and evolutions, they broke away from the low-level instincts to explore the origin of consciousness and souls. They called themselves Eldus, explorers of the origin.

The Eldus stepped on the odyssey journey of seeking truth and their origin. During the exploration, they also utilized their advanced civilization and technology to assist the evolution of other planets as responsibilities and obligations.

Manungal the Eldus showed little care about the responsibilities and obligations, but she was very fond of history and origin, which explained why she had joined the expedition.

Descending trippingly from the sky, Manungal revealed her rare reaction to astonish—limpid water covered the entire globe; iridescent coral interlaced with luxuriant seagrasses, connecting to a rainbow stretched over the whole world, dyeing the ethereal beauty on this land.

“This is the place where the luminfly was born… No wonder the grandmasters sent me to investigate once they found out about the regression of this place.” Manungal walked lightly on the lake, sending ripples over the water, as if she had a warm welcome with a waterway. Gazing afar, Manungal was appreciating such a magnificent view.

However, the great mood was soon disturbed by the corpses of butterflies in the water. The odor generated from lipid decomposition had lingered in the air, which caught her attention with a frown.

“They…seem to be drained to death…What happened here?” Manungal looked into the corpses, found the cause of death, and analyzed.

“Not enough information…Em? Something is flashing…” Manungal carefully bypassed the coral to the center of the lake. A palm-sized cocoon clung to a rainbow, emitting faint but colorful lights as if it were calling for survival.

“That’s the cocoon of luminfly…It’s fading…A grandmaster once taught me how to adjust one’s life sequence to alter its vital nature…” Closing her eyes, Manungal drew a spell beside the cocoon and condensed mana to change its life sequence.

“I did it…” Manungal mumbled with exhaustion, looking at the glittering cocoon with a satisfied smile. But she put it away as soon as she saw the rapid growth of the cocoon.

The palm-size cocoon was now even bigger than Manungal, with some weird noises sounding inside; that sharp noise was like chewing open a shell.

Crack! The cocoon cracked. 3 pairs of transparent butterflies flew in the air. Their wings reflected the iridescence, but the ominous darkness contained in their compound eyes made them sinister.

Manungal, who was not good at combat, could not react. To be exact, her head was simply occupied by this magnificent creature, a craving to study them. The curiosity drove Manungal to keep gazing instead of dodging their attacks—

Slash! A piercing sound brought her back to reality. Stepping backwards, Manungal saw someone’s arm was stung by the mutated antenna of the luminfly. 

“Saint!”

“Stay back, Manungal.” Saint, the Eldus, was hurt in the left arm, bleeding. Despite his gentle tone, it also carried irresistible weight.

Manungal stepped back at once.

Saint closed his lucid eyes; then everything in the perimeter was dimmed and bleak. As he let out a divine chant, golden mana covered his body.

Shielded by mana, Saint pulled out the antenna and gave the luminfly a cross kick. Such an attack sent it to hit the coral reef hard with a huge noise.

“Saint!” A lady was calling nervously— it was Ishtar, an Eldus, who hurried over after sensing something off. She held his bleeding left arm anxiously and triggered a healing spell in no time.

“Wait, Ishtar.” Saint looked over to the sky on full alert. The luminfly was preparing to dive into him from the mid air.

However, no attack was made. The luminfly let out a scream of pain, with its body shrinking to wither, as if it was drained by something. As a result, it fell down.

“What is it…Is it because of Saint’s attack…No, something’s wrong. I’m gonna check it!”

Manungal, ignoring the injured Saint, ran towards the corpse of the luminfly to investigate by hands. Finally, she found a wriggling creature in the luminfly’s heart.

“Is this…an embryo?”

Spotted, the embryo tried to escape, but was trapped by an enchanted container tossed by Manungal. Despite its effort to ram the bottle, the creature was eventually suppressed by the spell.

“Could it be…” Manungal went towards the other corpses to analyze their life sequences. The result was completely different from that luminfly. 

“I have to tell Saint!” When she finished studying, Saint was long gone, already on the way back to the home planet of the Eldus.

Manungal set off immediately to space. 

As Saint was injured, Ishtar slowed down intentionally for him. Soon, Manungal caught up, raising her container with much excitement.

“The life sequence of this creature is totally different from those luminflies. Perhaps they all died because of it!” 

“Enough!” Ishtar smacked Manungal’s hand, causing the container to drift to the zero-gravity universe. She did not care much, but glared at Manungal. “You can’t even protect yourself. You left the team without authorization. You made Saint hurt. And now you’re still talking about your study! Manungal, what are you thinking exactly?”

Questioned by Ishtar, Manungal did not say a word but was desperate to find the lost container instead, which made her even angrier. When she was going to blame her again, Saint held her fury.

“Don’t blame her. She’s still fresh.” Saint said lightly, and Ishtar could not help but shut up. Turning to Manungal, Saint wore a smile, “Manungal, let’s go back.”

“But…” Manungal bit her lips to show unwillingness. However, as soon as she met Saint’s sincere gaze, she obeyed and followed them back with a sigh.

Such a decision they made, somehow, had shaken the fate of the whole world…

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 2

“Planet Gourmet – Vulthoom”

The origin of all things fell into an instinctive madness, roaring with hysteria, strong enough to shake the entire universe. An ancient creature managed to contain such insanity and tear this source of power apart. Yet the soul-wrecking impact was way more overpowering, crushing the creature into ashes. The remnants, fused with the source of power, had given birth to new species, transformed into a prototype of embryos.

Repelled by the power of creation, these embryos travelled light-years to the very other side of the universe. They each landed in the center of different planets and entered a state of hypersleep for self-recovery.

Vulthoom was one of them. It was curled up, slumbering until a sense of hunger hit to the core.

Out of instinct, Vulthoom moved its mouth to swallow the soil nearby, slowly and delicately, as if it craved to taste every bit of flavour. By that time, the nature of its soul was revealed—A gourmet who appreciated the taste of life.

The emptiness brought by hypersleep drove Vulthoom to keep eating. Soon, the soil around was entirely consumed, which revealed a passage to the surface. Crawling out, Vulthoom saw the planet was no longer deserted but covered with a stretch of verdancy. Lush and huge plants had occupied this planet.

As Vulthoom climbed to a tree, the life sequence inside its body was stimulated to change drastically. In a split second, Vulthoom was switched from the embryo to exactly the same as that plant.

This was the ability that demons possessed in early childhood—mimicry. Through mimicking different types of species in different planets, they’ve been through life and death, until they selected the fittest life sequence and got rid of the inferior.

Vulthoom followed this rule by nature, imitating various creatures on planets in order to obtain plenty of superior life sequences. While it was exploring the meaning as a predaplant, someone appeared.

He carried the form that Vulthoom had never seen before——Solid torso, four limbs and a head; until later days, it knew that was a “human” form.

That creature, riding on a flame bug, descended slowly. With a wave, the bug burnt all the predaplants into ashes but Vulthoom.

This was the very first time for Vulthoom to know what fear was like. Driven by this unknown emotion, it attacked the creature instinctively, but barely made any scratch. Vulthoom, in the form of predaplant, was crushed and changed back to an embryo, creeping on the ground. However, it failed to escape from that creature.

 “Fear not, my fellow. I’m Vorvadoss, of the same kind. We’re all evolved from an embryo.” Vorvadoss talked in a low voice, but somehow understood this unfamiliar language even for the first time. Giving up the struggle, it looked at Vorvadoss out of curiosity.

Vorvadoss wore a smile to put Vulthoom on his palm, “mimic me.”

Vulthoom felt the resonance of the life sequence inside and let its body grow like Vorvadoss’s form.

“You…and…I look different…” Vulthoom looked at herself with puzzlement. Instead of masculinity, she had a curvy and soft body shape. 

“Ha, your nature is feminine.” Vorvadoss found it interesting, stroking her face gently. His deep eyes reflected the dazzling light of the universe. “Vulthoom, this will be your name.”

Vulthoom did not have any resistance to let him decide her own name, but everything made perfect sense to her. Waving her body, a red flower bud sprouted from her shoulder and came into blossom rapidly to spread orange-red spores.

 “Oh, Vorvadoss, why did you call?” Vulthoom asked as she clung to him lazily.

“I need your power to awaken that existence of the origin. Let’s turn this world and universe into a wasteland.”

The evil intention of Vorvadoss, however, had a sharp contrast with his power, full of vitality with boundless creation. Therefore, Vulthoom laughed as she found this contradiction ridiculous.

Not a hint of anger, Vorvadoss deepened his smile. “Funny, isn’t it? Life is that cruel and desperate. That’s why I need you to bring absolutely fair death to each lifeform in the universe with me.” 

Afterwards, they acted together. Vulthoom did not care much about the purpose of Vorvadoss, and the only thing that occupied her mind was whether she could be well-fed.

Before long, Vulthoom began to notice the stupidity in her concern. Under his leadership, engulfing species on different planets was easy, and that had elevated her appetite.

Vulthoom no longer did it just to fill her stomach, but indulged in tasting the despair when the species were at the verge of death. The person who inspired her to acquire this cognition was Laplace.

That day, she was consuming species of the planet with Vorvadoss and other fellows. Suddenly, Laplace appeared, accompanied by a deformed fellow named North.

“Submit to me, and I can ensure your desire to be achieved.” Laplace announced in a confident and absolute manner.

“He’s…amazing. A magnificent one. I wonder what he’ll look like when he dies…Em…I wanna savour his despair so bad.” Vulthoom felt heat in her throat. The instinctive desire of a gourmet was itching, making her suppress the lust by licking her lips.

To feed her intense appetite, Vulthoom took the lead to attack Laplace with her fellows, but their strikes were all counteracted, even lost the ability to defend. 

Laplace trod on Vulthoom; his charming face was flawless. Then he bent down to tilt her chin with a finger.

“You have a pair of beautifully bright eyes, like the essence of life is condensed into them.” Captivated by his soul-stealing eyes, Vulthoom did not even consider that being trodden was an insult. Instead, she thought it was an honor that her defeat was able to make his majesty shine.

Unusually starving, she could not help but taste Laplace’s finger delicately.

“Ha, you have a good appetite indeed. If you can eat me, just do it.” Laplace smiled, showing no fear of her desire.

“One day I’ll eat you up, from head to toe, outside to inside. No matter if you taste like hope or despair, I’ll eat you all up.” Vulthoom swore in her heart.

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 3

“Burrower of Violence – Shudde M’ell”

A violet light streaked through the vast universe with an extreme invasion and overwhelming havoc, shattering all meteorites that crossed its path. Eventually, it landed on a planet; sandstorms and stardust filled the whole sky.

“Vulthoom, you bitch! Get the hell up, little trash!” The violet light revealed a slender man named Shudde M’ell, an ancient demon twined by a gigantic, squirmy worm, which occasionally opened its bestial, venom-dripping mouth.

Shudde waved his staff like a lunatic, bashing a few dents on the ground with deafening noises. Then a curvy figure was forced to crawl out of a huge flower bud.

“Ooohhhmmm.” The coquettish Vulthoom stretched and asked the angry Shudde with a smile, “What’s up, Shudde? Bad mood again?”

“Dreg! You forgot Laplace asking us to devour the planet, didn’t you?” Shudde rolled his eyes, pacing back and forth and talking to himself like a jitterbug. “Why do I have to stay with you bunch of low, trashy creatures! WHYYYY! I HATE IT!”

However, Shudde’s grumble came to a stop suddenly after his head was smashed to bits by a giant hammer.

“Shut up, you’re annoying! Haha!” A young boy, Zhar, jumped to the front of Shudde, howling with laughter.

“Shudde sucks! Hehe!” Coming was a young girl called Lloigor, jeering at the headless Shudde while clinging to her brother Zhar. Off guard, yet the twins were choked off the ground by him.

Weird rustles sounded from Shudde’s disfigured head; blood started churning, and his head was re-formed in a second.

“How dare you break my head? I’m gonna skin you two bit by bit, cut your fresh one by one and drink all your blood…”

As Shudde choked their necks harder, the twins could not help but groan with pain. At the moment, someone put his “hand” on Shudde’s shoulder.

That “hand” was made of stems and rusty metals; some parts had already withered with the stench of death. Not only his hand, but the whole body was twisted, deformed. He was North.

Like no other, North was unable to perform a complete mimicry, for his overwhelming inner power of destruction would destroy the genetic sequence of that species instinctively in every mimicry, making him the unorthodox one.

North was self-abased about it. Every day, he went through his self-denial, eventually turning himself into a dark, restrained individual. Expressing dissatisfaction with behavior was the best he could do, instead of voicing out.

“Tut! Stop looking at me with your dead eyes!” Shudde’s fury was not put out because of North, but added fuel to the flames, which made him glare at North.

When the situation reached close to the critical point, a huge noise came out of someone’s stomach.

“Oh, I’m starving.” Vulthoom did not really care about how everyone felt. “Shudde, let’s hunt,” she said, touching her stomach with her eyes squinted.

“But these two brats—”

“They didn’t target your heart. Come on, it was just a short pain. Don’t be fussy.” Vulthoom licked her lips. “We should get the mission done before Laplace comes back.”

Dispeased, Shudde tossed the twins away and left alone. Then Vulthoom, North, Zhar, and Lloigor followed him to the destination.

Triggering power, Vulthoom’s shoulder sprouted a large flower bud. Then she plucked and planted it into the soil of the planet. Stems grew and spread at high speed all over the globe.

North, Zhar, and Lloigor split to look after the growing stems at different places, while Shudde and Vulthoom stayed to take care of the flower bud.

“Ah, a taste of boredom again.” Vulthoom whispered disappointedly.

“This dumb only cares about eating… Em?” Shudde felt something strange suddenly, so he pulled Vulthoom away from the bud at once.

Bang! A strong, aggressive power was cast onto the bud, taking in the planet’s energy, blasting it into dusk in a split second. As the dust was dispersed, a group of shadows descended from the sky.

“We’re the Eldus, species from the universe. Aliens, tell me why have you been consuming the vitality of the planets?” A man, Saint, stepped forward to question Shudde with sincerity and love.

But Saint’s goodwill only got him an arrogant answer. “Ha, what’s the problem with it? The weak is bound to be the stepping stone for the strong to build the future.” Shudde replied.

“Meaning the strong can manipulate the destiny of the weak?”

“Of course, this is my gospel.”

“So you won’t stop anyways…” Saint closed his eyes and started to be serious. “A pity. I really wish you could put away your own desires… To protect the future of the weak, we Eldus shall call you the enemies!”

The declaration of Saint lit the fuse to trigger the first war between the ancient demons and the Eldus.

At the moment, North, Zhar, and Lloigor sensed something off and joined the battle. At the beginning, both sides were restrained in order to test the strength of each other. However, the situation began to turn later on—the Eldus led by Saint gained the upper hand.

“Why are these bastards so powerful? Nonono! It’s because Laplace and Vorvadoss are not here. That’s why we’re losing… Dammit dammit DAMMIT!” Shudde understood he was in trouble when dealing with Saint. “I can’t. I can’t die, I ain’t no weakling…”

Glancing at North fighting with the other Eldus, he wore a cunning smile. “YES. Let the weak be the stepping stone of the strong.”

To get himself out of Saint’s attacks, Shudde led Saint to North’s position on purpose. Just as Saint struck again, Shudde used North as a shield to take the hit and sprinkled corrosive fluid to help escape.

Not only Shudde, Vulthoom, Zhar, and Lloigor could make it successfully, but also back to the base of their kind.

Laplace and Vorvadoss have already returned after searching for the others. Standing next to them was a young, pale boy with red eyes that Shudde had never seen before.

“Why are you looking so embarrassed?” Laplace gazed at the bloodstained Shudde, who spilled the battle against the Eldus out angrily.

“They are trying to stop us from engulfing the energy of the planet…” Laplace pondered for a moment and then wore an innocent smile, so pure that it touched every single ancient demon present.

“Interesting. Let’s see what they can do to us.” Laplace looked around but found him absent. “Where is North?”

North had been with Laplace since the beginning. He was special to Laplace.

“Eh… I don’t know.” Shudde did not dare to speak the truth.

“I know, I know!” Zhar raised his hand to answer excitedly, “North was taken by the Eldus.”

Laplace put his smile away with an intimidating bloodlust. Sensing the fury, Vorvadoss held Laplace’s hand, “Don’t worry. We’ll get him out.”

“Are you joking?” The pale youth Rlim spoke with a smile, but his eyes delivered explicit disdain and contempt. “He was taken because he is weak. Why bother saving a weakling?”

“Stay if you want.” Laplace’s glare had made Rlim put away his frivolous attitude. “I’ll save North.”

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 4

“The Twin Obscenities – Lloigor & Zhar”

Residing on a planet of the universe were ancient demons led by Laplace. A young boy and a young girl were sitting high at the astral edge.

“Lloigor, I’m bored.”

“So am I, Zhar. Vorvadoss is too slow.” Lloigor bounced up with arms akimbo. “Hey, let’s play hide and seek.” 

“Em?” Before the twin little brother Zhar understood what his sister Lloigor meant, she had already long gone. Puffing out his cheeks, Zhar stamped his foot in anger. “You crafty girl!”

“Hehe. Catch me if you can.”

“We’ll see!” Zhar flung his arms and stuck out a pair of green tentacles with pointy barbs at the far end. The tentacles stretched in the air with great speed, successfully entangling Lloigor’s right arm.

“Watch this!” Zhar pulled back his tentacles, but all he got was a bloody, broken right arm pulled off.

“The arm doesn’t count.”

“Hey, how can you break your words! I’m done with this.” Zhar sat on the ground and closed his eyes with his arms crossed.

“Sigh, alright, alright. I lose, okay? Now it’s my turn.” 

Zhar took action right after what Lloigor said. He jumped into the mid-air to look over all the conditions on the ground, but apparently forgot one blind spot—under him.

Two tentacles similar to Zhar’s broke through the ground suddenly to twine Zhar’s legs. Jumping out from the soil, Lloigor pulled down hard to tear off his legs, which caused him to lose balance and crash.

“Hehe, now we’re even.” Lloigor looked down at Zhar, chuckling. But her tease had pissed him off. “Damn… You always make me look like a fool. I hate you! Hate you,” Zhar mumbled.

Then he pushed himself up, trying to pounce on Lloigor, but got caught in the air.

“Look how messed up you’re already. How are you supposed to finish your mission?” Grabbing Zhar was a burly man named Vorvadoss.

“Don’t blame us. It’s all because you’re late!” Lloigor retorted harshly.

“Laplace is sad. How can I just leave him alone? It took me some time to comfort him.”

Earlier on, other ancient demons had been attacked by a species called “Eldus”. Although most barely came back in one piece, North was taken. In order to get him back, Laplace had ordered Vorvadoss, Lloigor, and Zhar to take action.

Vorvadoss’s answer made Lloigor and Zhar put on a bizarre smile. Forgetting the hunting game, the twins echoed each other.

“No matter how hard you’re working, you can never replace North. Am I right, Zhar?”

“Correct! Vorvadoss will always be the second in Laplace’s eyes.”

Lloigor and Zhar gave a wink to each other and teased, “hehehe! Poor Vorvadoss, your dream will always be a dream.”

Hearing what they said, Vorvadoss was not angry but smiled and hugged the twins gently.

“Lloigor and Zhar are truly amazing. You can see my true self.”

Vorvadoss kept praising and then activated his power to envelop them in glamorous light. In a split second, their injuries were healed.

However, Lloigor and Zhar were not pleased. Instead, a surge of nausea filled their chest.

“Praise is the most rotten shackle in this world,” Lloigor shouted as she pushed Vorvadoss away. “Trapped by the boring fixed concept!” Zhar did the same.

“We hate it!” The twins spoke loudly.

“Vorvadoss is the worst! You know that we hate praise and gentleness so much, don’t you! And you did that on purpose! I’m so pissed!” Lloigor left after scorning Vorvadoss, and Zhar also grimaced in disgust towards him.

Vorvadoss could not help but remain smiling to set off alone to the destination—the planet designated by Laplace. In order to save North, they must find the base of the Eldus. The fastest way was to draw them out and let the Eldus lead them to their nest.

Laplace had analyzed several highly possible planets. The demons split into teams to set up baits. Vorvadoss, Lloigor, and Zhar were one of the teams.

As planned, they took in the vitality of the planet, while waiting patiently.

“Hey, the prey is hooked.” Vorvadoss looked at the flashing red light in the sky with a smile. “Stay sharp,” he told Lloigor and Zhar.

Before Lloigor and Zhar replied, raging flames were cast over their tentacles, which were burnt to ashes instantly.

“You got away last time. And it’s not gonna happen today!” A cocky voice spoke in the black smoke, and soon a firm yet exquisite figure full of vitality was revealed—Ishtar, the warrior of the Eldus. 

She cast a spell to create a sword of Mana and slashed at the twins, but the hit was on the metal part of the tentacles. Ishtar then buffed her strength with the spell; red lights were charged over her limbs. Clash! The metal part was cut off.

“Oh my! Scary scary! This woman is bloody strong!”

“I’m sure she is not a men-magnet, hehehe!”

“You two brats!” Furious, Ishtar sprinted towards Lloigor and Zhar, but got herself into a trap. A bunch of tentacles broke through the ground to tie her tight.

“Useless trick!” Ishtar circulated Mana to emanate crimson lights over her body—

Boom! An explosion occurred to blow up the tentacles as well as the ground.

“Em… Where are the brats?” Ishtar looked around but could not find the twins. “Tut! They fled again.” 

Fully concentrating on Lloigor and Zhar, Ishtar was unaware of a palm-sized embryo attached to her back.
“Things happened just as Laplace predicted.” The embryo—another form of Vorvadoss—pondered in the mixed moods of despair and happiness.

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 5

“Light of Sanctity – Anshar”

The vast silver sand and the galaxy over the night sky added radiance to each other, casting shine over nature. At the very centre, a building of the Eldus, the Hall of History, was erected.

A young man, Anshar, crossed the land at air-cutting speed. With no sign of weariness, he actually much enjoyed it. Before long, the Hall of History was reached from the other side.

Stepping into the building, he put his hand on a guard’s shoulder and asked excitedly, “Where is Saint?”

“He’s in the central room…oh wait! He and the grandmasters are—”

Before the guard finished his word, Anshar already ran to the room beyond his reach. He could not help but simply watch Anshar barge in directly.

All the Eldus in the room were shocked by his rudeness. However, Anshar was Anshar, for nothing could shake his will for what he decided to do.

“Saint! I’ve understood a new attack spell. Come test with me!”

Sitting at the end of a long table, Saint, the youth, stood up to advise Anshar softly. “Later, Anshar. I’m discussing the matter of withering planets getting more frequent with the other Eldus.”

“Withering planets?” Anshar frowned in pondering. “Oh, you mean some alien species are consuming the life of the planets. But what does it have to do with our Eldus? Just mind our own business. Wouldn’t it be better to spend more time on spell research?” 

Bang! A lady slammed the table to stand up; her charming gaze met Anshar’s. “Mind our own business? We Eldus are bound to take on more responsibility because of our superiority in nature. If aliens come to destroy the planet, we should be the first to stop them. That’s how we live up to our pride and honor,” she spoke coldly.

“Hahaha!” Anshar burst into laughter as if he had heard a joke. A moment later, he responded confidently in the center of the Eldus, “Ishtar, just stop making your beautiful excuse. You don’t care about the honor of Eldus but Saint’s.”

“Wh-what! I, I just—” Ishtar blushed as she looked at Saint and had no idea how to react.

“Enough.” Finally, Saint could not take it and broke the deadlock. “Anshar, it’s fine if you don’t want to get involved in this. But I need to save those planets. Now you may leave.”

“But I do want to let Saint watch my new spell…Oh!”

“I got an idea.” Anshar knocked his palm. “I’m with you. Let’s put on a competition of how many aliens we can beat!” 

“Anshar! We’re not playing around! If you keep on with such an attitude—” 

“I can go right?” Anshar ignored Ishtar to ask a grandmaster who had been silent. “Saint, let him join,” answered the Eldus.

“Understood.” Saint accepted with no objection. Despite Ishtar’s unwillingness, she had no choice but to put up with the grandmaster’s decision.

Then, Anshar, Saint, and Ishtar set off to the alien-invaded planet together.

Seeing a gigantic, bizarre flower bud from above, Anshar itched to battle.

“It’s that bud consuming the life of the planet.” Ishtar whispered to Saint.

“Then destroy it.” Saint gathered mana to prepare for the fight, but Anshar patted his shoulder, “Let me do it.” 

Thinking for a moment, Saint nodded and made way.

“It’s my good chance to test the new spell!” Unable to contain his excitement, Anshar triggered his new spell to conjure two light shields with mana. Crossing hands, he overlaid the shields, which were giving out gleaming radiance. Even at a distance, Saint and Ishtar were able to feel the core of the power.

Aiming at the rooted flower bud on the ground, Anshar chanted sacred rhyme to eliminate the bud in a split second with the light beam.

“It’s a powerful spell indeed.” Saint praised with a smile as he put his hand on Anshar’s shoulder. “Alright, let’s go down and lobby with the aliens.”

However, because of the invaders’ arrogance, Saint’s negotiation was a failure, resulting in a war.

“Hmm, so you’re the one who ruined my lovely bud earlier.” Vulthoom, sitting on the colossal plant, taunted as she blocked Anshar’s way.

The indomitable Anshar was happy to accept the challenge. “Haha, so you created that weird stuff. But thanks to you, I could test my new spell,” Anshar spoke as he stroked his nose.

“Oh well, cocky boy, how about this?” Vulthoom waved her hand; a few gigantic flower buds appeared to surround him.

Anshar focused and created several shields with the spell— Crack. All were broken immediately. Feeling a threat in the air, Anshar let his superior reflexes take control, dodging whips of thorny vines by backward flips.

Vulthoom kept the pressure on with continuous attacks. Although Anshar already struck wherever he found a chance, she had successfully avoided each of them.

When the situation came to a deadlock, a painful cry sounded from afar.

“Did Saint defeat the enemies…I can’t lose the competition!” Seeing Saint’s victory, Anshar was so desperate to win the game like a child. 

He activated all his power to chant a few spells at the same time in order to trap Vulthoom and her flower buds.

“Die!” With a shout, beams of mana were unleashed to blow the place up; what remained was only the dregs of the flowers.

“I did it— Ahh!” Looking at a hand piercing through his stomach, Anshar spat blood.

“Oh boy, luckily I escaped in time. You Eldus are really violent.” Vulthoom whispered in his ear with a smile. “You are too obsessed with honor, but look down on the enemy in front of you. Now you’ll pay for your rudeness!” 

When Vulthoom gave him a last strike, a shadow dived at high speed; Seeing it as a threat, she leapt to escape in order to save her own life.

“Anshar!” The last scene he saw was Saint’s anxious look…

Thanks to him, Anshar was safe and sound. After the treatment of the recovery spell, he soon recovered, backed by his excellent physique.

However, the mental impact was not easy to fix. 

The humiliation of defeat and the shame seen through by Vulthoom had been tormenting Anshar’s soul. Trying to get rid of this stigma, he buried himself in practice.

Finally, the time has come.

Those aliens were coming to the planet of the Eldus to capture their fellow. “Time to pay back,” Anshar wore a rare grin after knowing the news.

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 6

“Breakdown of Principle – Michael”

On the planet of Eldus, there was a building, the Hall of History, situated at the center of the desert. Two young men were running, echoing through a spacious corridor.

“Faster! We’re late.” Young Eldus Lucifer urged impatiently.

“If it wasn’t you being too occupied with the spell study, we could’ve been on time to the monthly assembly.” Another young Eldus Michael grumbled.

“Hey, don’t blame me for this. You enjoyed it as much as I did.” Discontented, Lucifer glared at Michael while keeping the speed. Finally, they arrived at a splendid door, a place of solemnity.

Taking a deep breath, both opened the door carefully. Then, a low, hoarse voice came into their ears.

“…Alien species were found to absorb the vitality of the planets. During the first contact, we successfully defeated them to save the weak…”

The silent hall was echoed with a burst of applause for a moment. Michael and Lucifer also followed as they felt great admiration for the honor.

“Great, we made it to the Saint’s speech.” Michael was relieved. The young yet awe-inspiring Eldus on the stage was Saint, the candidate for the next grandmaster.

“But we must stay vigilant. As superior species, we take full responsibility to maintain the order of the universe, therefore—” Saint, who paused while looking at the young generation in the hall, continued with a resolute attitude, “The grandmasters and I are planning to set up a gatekeeping programme named the Keeper. We’ll pick young and skillful Eldus as Keepers of different planets to prevent alien invasion.

A tempest of applause came again. Saint kept on the speech until it faded by accurate timing, so that the audience could focus on every word from him.

“However, communication is always an option. Living together in harmony is our mission and goal, also the gospel of the universe—”

The speech was interrupted by an Eldus suddenly. He came over and whispered. The news made Saint grave as he announced, “Unfortunate news. Aliens spotted on another planet. I’ll be leading my fellows to handle it.”

Hence, the assembly ended earlier than scheduled. Michael and Lucifer walked out of the hall, but soon got caught—an elder in anger.

“Lucifer! Michael! You two troublemakers again!”

“Huh? We didn’t do anything! Don’t point the wrong finger at us!” Lucifer retorted to the injustice, but what the elder was going to say made him speechless.

“Wrong finger? You two triggered the transformation spell in Woods of Sound, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but Michael removed the spell when he left.”

“Huh? Didn’t you remove it, Lucifer?” Michael questioned with shock. By that time they knew why the elder was mad.

“So now you understand I point the right finger at you. The Woods of Sound is a mess.”

“Sorry…”

“Humph! Make yourself useful and make up for it in action!” The grandmaster put his hands on their shoulders with a scary smile.

Then, Michael and Lucifer were brought to the Woods of Sound to fix the broken place. It took them one whole day to get it done. Exhausted, the two were lying on the lush meadow, and Michael had an idea suddenly.

“Lucifer, I want to become a Keeper. Like Saint, I want to protect everything, and the equality of life.”

“Sounds great.” Lucifer sat up with a fighting spirit, exuding the fearlessness of youth. “I support the Keeper idea. Only the strong can control power. That’s how we show the honor of Eldus!”

“I know nothing about power and authority, but it’s the right thing to protect the weak together.”

“Humph! What together…All credit has gone into Saint’s hand!” Lucifer was bitter. “Look! I don’t just wanna be a Keeper, but the best among Keepers!”

“Haha.” Witnessing his ambition, Michael had a crack. “You admire Saint as much as before. I bet you can’t wait to be his right-hand man, don’t you?”

“NO!” Hit the spot, Lucifer blushed to deny and walked away to the west.

“I-I’m heading west to see if there is any place that needs to be fixed. Don’t slack off and get off your butt to check! Otherwise, the grandmaster will be complaining again!”

“Ok, ok.” Michael smiled as he stood up, heading east after a stretch. After the checking was done, he went back to the meadow but found Lucifer missing.

“Strange…Lucifer is never late…” Suddenly, thunder sounded from the sky, which was covered with clouds. A dazzling lightning struck through the air to break the tranquility.

“…Let’s go find him.”

“To the west, Michael saw something unexpected—the severely injured Lucifer was hanging on a tree.

“Lucifer!”

Michael tried to save him, but a shadow blocked the way—Laplace the demon with a child-like smile. Michael widened his eyes not only because he was an alien, but also because of his flawlessness beyond any creature in the world.

“Oh, you came, just in time. I’m lost. Can you help me?” Laplace’s voice was light as a feather.

“…Did you harm Lucifer?” Michael pulled himself together after getting rid of the blankness. Despite his lowered head, his fury could be told, judging from the tightened body motion and the sharp tone.

However, Laplace was unaware, gazing up to Michael with a smile.

“Right. It was his fault. I was asking for directions, but he attacked me for no reason. So I just lectured this bad boy.” Laplace stood straight and continued with hostility and offense, “Look. I’m being nice to him, you see? He’s not dead yet.”

“…You disgusting alien!” Michael drew his sword and triggered a spell. A large amount of mana was gathered on the long sword, slashing at Laplace.

Laplace did not dodge nor strike back, but grabbed Michael’s sword barehanded. With astonishment, the mana on the sword was erased, and its weight became much slighter, as if he were holding a toy weapon.

“Oh, that dude used all his power to buff the attack, but you split half the power to maintain the solidity of the sword instead. Well, this is not important because…” Laplace closed his eyes to analyze and opened them again, filled with bloodlust. “You’re as bad as that dude. Time to lecture!”

Laplace pulled out an unknown weapon and conjured mana on its surface, just the same as Michael did!

The attack targeted at Michael’s blind spot, right into the vital part. He was blasted away, flying toward a huge stone and smashing into a big hole.

Michael bled hard, moaning with pain breathlessly.

“Oops, that’s heavy. Seems he can’t answer me either. I’ll wake up that dude then.” Puzzled, Laplace stretched his head, came over to Lucifer, and pulled his collar brutally.

Although that scene was all in Michael’s eyes, he was too weak to speak up and stop it.

“No…I’m Eldus, the keeper of all…I have to protect my fellow at all costs!”

Every inch of movement was bone-cutting. He managed to put his right hand on top of the sword and drew a spell with blood as his last-ditch effort.

Enchanted by mana, the sword flew towards the enemy fiercely—Laplace stopped the weapon by pinching it with two fingers.

“This can’t hurt…Em?” Laplace felt sudden warmth on the cheek. Blood stained his finger as he touched the face——The sword has left a half-finger-long wound on his right cheek.

Laplace remained silent for a while. When Michael thought his life was doomed today, Laplace spoke.

“Amazing! You’re just amazing!” Laplace was excited to shout. “My analysis indicated that you couldn’t have unleashed that kind of attack, but your bonding with the fellow exceeds my calculation…Oh, what a beautiful possibility.”

“Alright, I decided, to spare your life.” Laplace nodded and released Lucifer. “Train. Grow stronger. Then let me see the possibility of transcending the limit.”

He left after leaving this message.

“He…is not much the same as I thought about the alien species…Maybe I’ve done wrong…I shouldn’t attack but to communicate in the beginning…” Looking at the child-like Laplace, Michael was confused about himself and his own kind.

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 7

“Phantom Pride – Ishtar”

Childhood memories of Ishtar the Eldus were nothing but blood, tears, and lingering fear.

Ishtar was not born on the planet of the Eldus, but on an extreme planet—poor resources, extreme weather, a variety of threatening species. Every day, their kind was struggling for survival in the harsh environment. Their life expectancy was mostly only 30 years.

In order to continue the lifeblood of the kind, all were bound to accept rigorous combat training when children knew how to walk. Many died in the practice. Ishtar, having been on the edge of death a few times, was no better. But with luck, what didn’t kill her made her stronger.

Such ugly and humble living made Ishtar think it was the nature of life, but she proved herself wrong that day she saw the Eldus descending from the sky. 

It turns out that life could be so beautiful and noble.

“My fellow of the universe, fear not. We’re the Eldus of the Akkad planet. Your planet will soon be wrecked to extinction by meteorites. We serve to protect the life of species, therefore we are willing to help you move into a safe and livable planet.” The Eldus announced in a friendly manner.

When the excited Ishtar was about to go forward, her chief and the adults raised their weapons to roar ferociously. “You evil creatures, stop the lies! Get out of here now, or we show you no mercy!”

The Eldus did not waver because of their hostility. “If you change your mind, find us on the hill. We will be staying until tomorrow morning.”

The Eldus then triggered a spell to fly towards the mountain in a flash. Showing no interest, the chief and the adults all went back to continue their lives. However, Ishtar was the only exception. Despite her utter disappointment, she was unable to act against the will of the clan, leaving her no choice but to return to the slum.

But something happened at night. Saint the young Eldus brought some fruit and tools, saying these were meant to be given to the clan as a gesture of sincerity. But it turns out he was rejected and attacked by stones. Saint could not help but put them on the ground and leave.

“His head is bleeding!” Hiding in the corner, Ishtar was worried about Saint’s injury. So she sneaked into the chief’s room to steal some precious remedies and ran to find Saint, who was cleaning the dirt by the lake.

Ishtar took a deep breath to pluck up her courage and come to him. “For, for you— Ouch!” She closed her eyes to hand over the medicine.

Too nervous, she bit her tongue accidentally, with tears in pain. At the moment, a breath of warmth was sent. When she opened her eyes, she saw Saint use a spell to cover her with gentle light. Miraculously, the pain had totally gone.

“You’re good now.” Saint looked at Ishtar gently, who did not know the wound on his forehead had already recovered until now. “What was that?” Ishtar asked curiously.

“A recovery spell.”

“Spell? That glowy thingy?”

“Right. It has many purposes in addition to healing. Look.” Saint drew a spell and activated; a dazzling beam was unleashed to crush a big stone on the other side of the lake.

Stunned, Ishtar spoke after a moment of silence. “…Why didn’t you fight back at that time? You should be able to defend our attacks.”

“Yes, but that would add fuel to the tension, wouldn’t it?” The eyes of Saint were filled with love and benevolence. Under his watch, Ishtar felt salvation.

“If it can make you feel at ease, I’m willing to suffer; if I can protect you all, I’m willing to exchange it with my own blood.” Saint used his gentle voice to express tolerance and forgiveness.

For Ishtar, who only struggled for survival, Saint’s words were like a cold spring in the scorching fire, an oasis in the desert, which subverted all her cognitions. Gazing at him, she was eager to listen more, but it was interrupted by a shout nearby.

“Ishtar! Show yourself! I know you’re here! How dare you steal the precious medicine! Do you have any idea how furious the chief is! Come out now, and I’ll plead for leniency.”

 “It’s mother… No, I don’t wanna go back to that ugly and suffering life… I hate it!” Ishtar curled up with fear; a thought then flashed in her mind.

 She grabbed Saint’s arm tightly with determination. “Please, take me…out of here.”

Saint held back her shaky hands to answer determinedly, “Fear not. We, Eldus, take the responsibility of preaching the truth of the universe. Your wish is heard.”

Then, Saint brought Ishtar back to the hill, waiting together till dawn. As a result, none of her clan came; the Eldus set off with heavy moods.

With the spell of protection, Ishtar left safely and witnessed how the meteorites destroyed her homeland. The brilliance of the explosion had been imprinted in her mind, magnificent enough to make her tear.

As Ishtar was alone, the Eldus did not move her to the other planet, but kept her as one of them. She was assigned to study in an institution where Saint was. Ishtar had been putting in lots of effort to study and catch up, which was proven worthy in her excellent result.

Every Eldus of the same age had also been nice to Ishtar as a newcomer. Yet for the survival instinct she learnt from the home planet, Ishtar knew their kindness was more apparent than real. The truth behind their smiles was merely an unseen estrangement. Only when she was with Saint could she feel the genuineness in everyone’s eyes.

“If Saint were not here, I would be nothing. Everyone treats me as a family simply because of Saint.” Somehow, this thought had been deeply implanted in her mind, and all she did was solely for Saint.

This twisted value made her an excellent Eldus. The outstanding Saint was also regarded as the leader of the younger generation. Both were chosen by the elder to handle alien invasions on other planets. Under Saint’s leadership, the first fight was a victory, successfully banishing the aliens.

But the issue was not settled yet. The aliens were back again. In order to defend the planet, Saint was assigned to the mission. At the observatory, he took the staff that Ishtar handed over and put his hand on her shoulder.

“During my absence, I’m counting on you to protect everyone here, Ishtar.”

“Sure. Consider it done.”

Ishtar and the young Eldus watched Saint leave. As his figure was gone and she turned to speak to the young ones, she found none of them was looking at her, as if she was nothing. This embarrassing feeling made Ishtar give up the talk and go back to her room.

“Without Saint, I’m not even one of the Eldus…” Ishtar fell asleep slowly after pondering painfully in bed, but woke up when she heard noises outside.

“Battle!” 

The experienced Ishtar knew it was a battle, so she took her weapon to go out and found a bunch of Eldus surrounding a grinning alien male.

When she was trying to help, two heavily-injured Eldus were falling down with speed, moaning in pain. The alien then wore a taunting smile at her.

“This guy…is horrible…I can feel it…the experience of death…” Ishtar was occupied with fear, unable to stop trembling.

“No…Run…I gotta run…” This reminded her of the painful past, running away to the indoor just as then.

“What can I do? Do I have to fight that guy… No… I can’t win…There is only death for me…But this also means I’m breaking my promise with Saint…Darn it!”

 “Poor thing, maybe I can help you.” A man’s voice sounded behind, and Ishtar immediately turned around to guard—the vital aura and the despair in the eyes of the male alien crept her out.

 “Don’t be nervous. I mean no harm…Well, not exactly true, though. It’s me who brings Laplace…Oh, that guy outside, into your planet.” The alien Vorvadoss talked relaxedly, as if he were chit-chatting with Ishtar.

“Alright then. Let me help you take down that guy, sounds good?” 

“…Why? Isn’t he your fellow?”

“It’s because I want to be his number one.” Vorvadoss smiled, “Same like you wanna be one of the Eldus.”

“You! What are you talking about!” His words made Ishtar mad to retort, with a tight grip on her weapon.

“Correct? You know better than me. And you have no choice. Accept the defeat or bet on my words.”

Ishtar bit her lips. Vorvadoss was right. She had no choice.

“…Tell me what to do.”

Everything was for her to continue to be Eldus, the identity she had always longed for…

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 8

“Destructive Deprivation – North”

When the origin of all things was destroyed by an ancient creature, the source of power was torn apart. A portion of which was turned into darkness, fused with the crushed flesh of the ancient creature, which gave birth to a new form, an embryo. It was North.

The darkness contained nothing but merely a minimal energy as to the source of power. Despite that, North was unable to take it. The embryo was repeatedly squeezed while regenerating at the same time, reshaping into an incomprehensible form.

Afterwards, North and the others of its kind were repelled by the power of creation. They came to the other side of the universe, countless light-years away, and entered a state of hypersleep for self-recovery on deserted planets.

The great power residing in North made it wake up earlier than the other same kind. Crawling out, it performed a mimicry of a jellyfish out of instinct. However, the dark energy inside caused it to transform into a deformed body.

North did not give up. It experienced the life cycle as a jellyfish, extracted a superior life sequence, and did the same practice of mimicry when it moved into the next planet. Though the result was the same—a deformed body.

“Why…why do I look so hideous…” Gazing at the reflection of the lake, it had a craving for human form, but the freak look was a total despair.

Saddened, North put away the imitation, drifting in the vast universe until an iridescent light caught its attention.

“What is that…Such splendid and captivating…” 

North was drawn to the iridescence. It turns out to be an embryo trapped in a strange container. 

“This is…my…kind…my fellow…I need to get it out…” North used its broken hands in an attempt to destroy the container, but it was blocked by some sort of barrier.

“Annoying…You disappear!” Beclouded with intense desire for destruction, North had a resonance with the power within, releasing the crushing darkness.

Crack! The container was broken. North carefully held the embryo with both hands. Moving its body, the embryo began to lick the blackish-green skin of North, analyze its life sequence, and mimic.

The embryo, growing at an amazing speed, emitted silky lights to wrap itself up into an oval pupa. Its pulse was accelerating until the limit was reached. The pupa cracked. 

Beautifully shaped hands protruded from the gap, and delicate light shone through the fingers like distant stars, twinkling. Soon, a naked body jumped out as the gap was pulled open. He stretched his slender four limbs leisurely; the snowy white was dyed with his smooth and flawless skin; the shimmering veins reflected the dazzling light, constituting an exquisite flesh body.

Eventually, his delicate face was revealed. The world seemed to stop flowing, and all the colors were concentrated on that unearthly face in an instant.

“Thank you for saving me, brother.” The man Laplace put on an innocent smile.

That pure face was able to shake everything in the galaxy. It was all because Laplace was the supreme species that perfectly combined the power of destruction and creation.

North could not contain the tears; its heart fell into unprecedented tranquility, as if it found its majestic belief.

“…Such a beautiful existence…It’s the dream I’ve been chasing…”

North came to Laplace, kneeling with respect. Then it raised Laplace’s right foot and pressed its rough and uneven face on it. 

“It’s my honor to serve you, ” said North reverently.

This was the encounter between North and Laplace.

Afterwards, they continued to wander the vast universe and met the same species led by Vorvadoss. A battle sparked off, but soon Vorvadoss had surrendered to Laplace after the showdown.

Despite the same kind, North had proven itself not useful in the battle as it was unable to control its own power. Seeing that all other fellows could perform perfect mimicry, North was getting more and more impatient. One day, eventually, it proposed to leave for Laplace. 

“Don’t leave, North.” Laplace embraced North, who was much bigger than himself. Even though the sharp surface of North might hurt his delicate skin, Laplace had no intention to let go.

“I’m always that Laplace you saved. Weak, helpless, and foolish Laplace.”

“Not true… Laplace is not weak…You’re much stronger than I.” North pushed Laplace away. Looking at the scars it did to him, North’s heart was sinking.

Laplace shook his head and looked it in the eyes with wisdom.

“I can evaluate everything but you in the entire universe, North. Your power is beyond my observation. Destroy, destroy and destroy… Even to destroy the nature of destruction itself… You possess no possibility… But somehow, no possibility is the greatest possibility. So you’re unpredictable.”

 Laplace reached out to touch its face. “So you’re my only weakness.”

 “But I…can’t help you anything… I don’t deserve to be with you…”

Angry, Laplace flicked North’s forehead. Then he puffed his cheek with arms akimbo like a child. “I don’t need your help. I just need you to be with me.”

“…Only stay with you?”

“Yes, or you don’t want to?”

“How could I!” North retorted. Satisfied, Laplace nodded and buried his head into its chest. “Then don’t leave me.”

For a moment of hesitation, North hugged him back, feeling his body warmth. Then its consciousness started fading into a world of darkness.

“Only under your watch can I feel my existence and happiness.” North sank into the subconscious until a dazzling light hit the eyes.

It opened its eyes and met the gaze of an unfamiliar face. That person felt relieved and stood back a bit as he knew North woke up.

“I’m Saint, the Eldus.”

“Eldus…” North remembered. While it was consuming the planet’s energy with other fellows, a group of aliens named Eldus came to stop them, resulting in a battle. North was used as a shield by its fellow and severely injured by Saint, who then took it to the home planet of the Eldus.

“What do you want from me!”

“Don’t move. We’ve given you proper treatment. But you still need rest due to your serious condition.” Saint advised in a low voice. “I won’t hurt you. I’m here to listen to your wishes.”

At the beginning, North refused to talk. With Saint’s perseverance, it finally opened its heart to tell him about the purpose of their kind and its deep thought.

“No, it’s not just about his effort, but also his true nature. Saint and Laplace are alike. Both possess the charisma to touch everyone’s heart, and I’m no exception.”

Saint promised to find a way to help North transform into a human form. North was full of hope on that matter. Therefore, when Ishtar came to visit North, it was not wary of her at all.

“North, your fellow has come to bring you back. Follow me,” Ishtar, the female Eldus, said.

“Must be Laplace…” North pondered for a moment. “Only he will come to save me.”

“…Where is Saint?”

“Saint will be right after us.” Ishtar’s eyes flashed a strange intention, but the pure North was not aware of who followed Ishtar to the destination.

Suddenly, she stopped to turn around. “Oh, right, Saint needs a part of your body to help stabilize your form.”

“No problem.” North broke off a pointy part from its elbow and handed it to Ishtar. Gazing at the limb with turbid, green fluid, she took it with a frown. 

“Let’s keep going, to the end of this staircase.”

As North was so desperate to meet Laplace, it took the lead to reach the destination. It was a huge platform located at the top of the mountain, with a panoramic view of the surroundings.

“North!” Laplace, in the midair, took a dive as he saw it. Because of North, Laplace also was unable to foresee what was coming next—

Four razor-sharp swords were conjured from a spell and pierced through Lapalce’s hands and legs with precision. Temporarily, he lost his mobility, but it was not the end yet. A shadow leapt across North to charge at Laplace and pulled out the green limb—

Slash! Alongside the soul-wrecking agony, Laplace finally saw that shadow clearly. Ishtar used that limb to stab into his heart precisely, which was the fatal spot of the ancient demons, the place where the embryo grew and lived on. Only their own kind would know their own weakness.

How did this Eldus know?

Ishtar tilted her head, whispering to Laplace’s ear before she backed off. 

Utterly shocked, Laplace then burst into laughter, gazing at North, who was taken aback. That pair of eyes carried no light that North had been admiring for, but was filled with layers of despair. His pale-white face turned ashen in an instant.

“You betray me because of your own desire…” Laplace’s voice had never been so fragile.

“I didn’t!” North was at a loss. It was fearful of Laplace’s death while at the urge to vindicate itself, but the consternation in mind made it speechless for a moment. 

“Don’t deny it. It’s not a fault. You made your own choice, and I won’t hate it nor judge it…” Laplace’s face became paler. “I was unable to observe you in the past. But from now on, I’ll never observe you again…”

“No! Listen to me! It’s not the truth!” North shouted madly. It could accept all the emotions and even the hatred of Laplace towards itself, but when Laplace decided not to observe North anymore, it meant Laplace no longer had any bonding with it. For North, the opposite of love was never hatred. Laplace’s indifference was enough to ruin it.

North collapsed. It was too late for it to save the dying Laplace, who showed almost no vital signs. “Goodbye, North…” Laplace closed his eyes with a smile.

“Please…don’t…Laplace…don’t leave me…”

No matter what North said, silence was the only response.

“You sinful Eldus…It’s all your fault…You killed Laplace…You broke our bonding…I hate…”

North was shrouded in an ominous darkness, which changed its twisted form into a powerful being.

The desire for existence and the craving to protect Laplace after the encounter had been conflicting with the power of destruction within North, which was the reason why it was unable to contain its power.

The loss of Laplace meant the loss of the need for protection. North, therefore, lost the meaning of existence but simply sought pure destruction, which had a resonance with its power within, unleashing a devastating aura. 

North put Laplace down; its mind was taken up by only one thought.

“I need to destroy all the Eldus and everything about them!”

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 9

“Gospel of Stars – Saint”

On the Akkad planet of the Eldus, dozens of kids were gathering at a star-gazing square on the summit of a high mountain. A few grandmasters were bustling with putting on white robes, enchanted by spells for them.

 “Woahhh——! I don’t wanna go! I’m scared of getting lost in the universe!” A child was weeping when the grandmaster helped him wear the robe.

 “You’ll be fine as long as you listen to your teacher. You have my word,” the grandmaster tried to comfort him gently.

However, it failed to soothe the unsettling minds of the children. The fact was that a serious accident had happened a month ago, which led to the disappearance of 30 children in the vast galaxy.

When an Eldus reached a specific age, he or she would be required to leave the home planet for space travel. 

To those kids not familiar with mana and spells, they could not go alone and had to be accompanied by grandmasters and mature Eldus. The white robes were especially made for the kids to walk in the universe.

But that was not a guaranteed safe play from any risk. A month ago, a sudden meteor shower made the situation out of the grandmaster’s control, causing the children to be lost in the boundless space.

After the accident, some Eldus suggested cancelling this ritual, but eventually continued under the insistence of the grandmasters. Although they had already added a few more entourages, it did not do much to alleviate the children’s heavy moods, except for a boy looking up to the sky. Saint, filled with excitement in his eyes, was full of vigor, standing a stark contrast to the fear of the others.

The preparation took twice as long as usual. Then the grandmaster gave a command to officially set out towards space.

The innocent children were soon captivated by the beauty of the universe, carrying the mixed feelings of fear and curiosity to look around. A grandmaster who took the lead turned round with a kind smile. “Fear is necessary. Fear can calm you down. Calmness makes you think. Thinking helps you understand. Understanding inspires you.”

Most of the children were perplexed by the grandmaster’s words, but Saint was the only one to comprehend and think deeply about the meaning inside while gazing at the abysmal universe.

Suddenly, a strange shaking happened, from insignificant to violent like raging waves in the storm.

“A quake caused by a meteor shower.” As fear seized the others, the Saint swiftly perceived the truth behind the oscillation and analyzed it with quiet calm.

“Don’t be afraid! We’ll be fine in the spell of protection,” the teachers explained. However, it was muted by the screams of the children. Eventually, one was unable to bear the terrible ambience and ran out of the spell protection.

“AHHH!” While gravity pulled him away, someone caught him in time—it was Saint. Spinning his body to create inertia, he got the child back into the spell protection but drifted away in the universe in exchange.

“Great, the child is safe.” Saint felt relieved as he knew the child went into the grandmaster’s embrace. Alone, he closed his eyes to welcome the unknown world ahead.

The white robe could only sustain his life. Saint, wandering in the galaxy, had passed through rings of planets, fire of meteorites, and the magnificent Milky Way…

Lossing track of time, Saint had no idea when the odyssey would end as time went by. Shrouded in an eternal silence, he began to realize there was no way back; Unspeakable panic and great fear flooded Saint’s heart.

“Am I going to be alone in the barren space forever? No… I don’t want to… NOOO…” Saint cried in great despair. Suddenly, he recalled what the grandmaster said—

“Fear is necessary. Fear can calm you down. Calmness makes you think. Thinking helps you understand. Understanding gives you inspiration.”

“Fear can calm me down. Calmness can make me think…” Tears stopped. Saint opened his eyes and saw a faint light shining ahead. Then he moved his hands to help him go forward to the light.

“Come…” A voice came into his mind, driving him to follow the shine to a broken planet.

“Oh! It’s a friend! Wake up, everyone!”

“Great! You must be here to bring us back!”

“These are…the missing children!” Saint was shocked to see the long-lost children waving at him excitedly. A moment later, he was enlightened. 

“It’s the will of the stars guiding me to come here. Yeah… How insignificant I am in the torrent of the universe.”

Afterwards, Saint led the children to follow the holy light, without any doubt. And his absolute faith in the guidance of the radiance successfully brought them back to the home planet.

“Saint, not only did you come back from the vast universe, but also saved the helpless kids. Amazing!” The grandmaster was full of praise.

“No, I’m not strong. The powerful is the will of this universe, I’m just a carrier of its greatness, a humble servant.” Saint’s delicate face glowed with holiness, like a shine that appeared in the long dark night with solemn divinity. “I’m just spreading its light.” He spoke determinedly.

“Right…This boy is special. He is chosen by the stars.” The grandmaster exclaimed. 

The young Saint’s deeds made him highly valued by the grandmasters, and he lived up to expectations to become the leader of the new generation, responsible for expelling alien ancient demons who took the vitality of the planets.

The first battle ended with a triumph of the Eldus. One of the alien species was seriously injured. Saint took it back for treatment while he was busy with chores.

“Phew…Finally done.” Saint, closing the last scroll, pondered as he stretched his taut shoulders. “The treatment should be finished as well. Let me take a look.”

Saint came to the treatment room and once again marveled at this colossal yet indescribable alien figure—a broken flesh body which was entangled, destroyed, and split by trees and minerals, occasionally oozing with thick slurry that gave off a strange smell.

As if sensing Saint’s attention, the colossal alien awakened. At first, it was extremely alert, but under Saint’s sincere and infectious persuasion, it quickly put down its guard.

“So to go to the place of birth, your kind needs to absorb the power of the planets to gain sufficient energy to make it possible?” Saint, sitting cross-legged on the table, rubbed his chin with two fingers.

“Perhaps we can help!” He looked at North.

“Em?” Shocked, North hesitated to ask, “Do you…know what you’re talking about?”

“Yes, of course.” Saint nodded. “I haven’t finished talking yet. We, Eldus, can help you back to the place of birth, provided that you aliens promise not to absorb the vitality of the planets anymore.”

“Can you really help us?”

“Not sure. But I’ll try my best. So I’m also counting on you to persuade your fellows to accept this offer.”

“I persuade…” North dropped its shoulders dejectedly. “I can’t do it… They won’t listen to me.”

“…Aren’t you their fellow too?”

“No one treats me as one of them except for Laplace.” North continued, “because I’m too weak…Look at my body. I look like a freak all because I can’t control my power…”

“I’ll help you sort this thing out.” Looking at North, Saint spoke with genuineness. “I’ll help you control your power and transform successfully.”

“…Why will you do that for me? For such an irrelevant alien…”

“It’s not irrelevant at all. We’re blessed and living under the same universe. That’s already a good reason to help.” Saint stood up, spread his palms, and closed his eyes to pray sincerely. “North, my fellow, I’ll be here to protect you as long as it is what you wish for.”

Saint’s selflessness shook North’s gloomy and dry mind. No, Saint himself had a special charm that no life was not affected by him.

Soon, Saint set out to crusade because the alien species once again invaded the planets. Fortunately, there were not many; under Saint’s overpowering strength, he claimed another victory in the battle.

Saint returned to the home plant with Eldus, but saw an unusual green figure on the surface. His heart became uneasy all of a sudden. Regardless of the young Eldus following behind, he descended as fast as possible, and a horrible situation caught his eyes.

The “Hall of History”, the landmark of their kind, was blasted away, which left only the base crumbling. Other buildings were not much better than it, full of potholes.

However, the saddest thing for Saint was the corpses of his fellows that paved the ground.

“Mmm…” An Eldus groaned in pain. “Hang in there! Let me heal you.” Saint immediately lent a helping hand.

The Eldus shook his head as he pressed Saint’s hand to stop the spell. “Saint…Take that monster down…Only you…only you can do it…”

After leaving the words, the Eldus passed away. Embracing the corpse, Saint was in tears; each death of a fellow was like digging a hole out of his heart.

“I can’t stop yet. I have to move forward to protect my kind before it’s too late.” Saint gently put down the corpse and activated the spell to ascend to the air. Looking around, he soon found the location of the monster—star-gazing square.

The monster was holding a female Eldus; Saint squinted to look clearly.

“Ishtar!” 

Saint activated a spell to concentrate mana on his legs. Driven by the golden light, his speed gradually accelerated. By the time he almost reached the square, Saint pulled out a blade and slashed the monster’s hand.

The monster’s arm was cut off; Saint caught the falling Ishtar to protect her from the force of landing—

Boom! A huge noise came after a cloud of dust and dirt. The sight suddenly became hazy. 

“Cough!” Ishtar gasped for breath as Saint patted her back. At the same time, he remained vigilant in case of any ambush. What came as a surprise was that he never believed the enemy was…

“North…Is that you?” The colossal figure was shrouded in a dark and greenish black aura. Its appearance was indescribable, as if an alien mixed with all the malice, despair, and destruction in the world.

“North, why…why did you hurt my fellows!” Saint was furious. “We have a promise—”

“It’s you who broke the promise!” North roared in a hoarse voice. It threw a deep, cold gaze at Saint. “You lied to me! You hurt me! You took everything from me!”

North raised its right hand to target Saint. “I won’t just destroy you, but also everything related to Eldus.” It was announced with hatred and fury.

North’s attack initiated a battle between them. The two who possessed devastating power had fought for three days and nights, making the whole place like ruins. In the end, North was defeated, mainly because he was still not recovered, and did not get used to the overpowering energy inside. 

North was dying, festered with blood. Still, it was exuding boundless hatred. Even facing such explicit loathing, Saint could not bear it and was unable to kill North. 

As a result, Saint and the other Eldus worked together to extract the power of destruction inside North and seal it with spells. As for North, it was imprisoned deep underground by the Eldus.

However, Saint did not know that it was not the end…

Gods & Demons Series Ch. 10

“Helix of Contradictory – Vorvadoss”

The origin of all things fell into madness, destroyed by an ancient creature. The power that squeezed out had blended into that crushed creature, resulting in the birth of countless embryos. Repelled by the power of creation, these embryos eventually landed on distant planets of the universe.

The first perception of Vorvadoss as an embryo was noisy. Sounds of abundance and vitality surrounded Vorvadoss underground, awakening it from the peaceful slumber. It crawled from the ground, trying to eliminate those sounds, but Vorvadoss found that it possessed no power of “destruction”; instead, it made those sounds even louder.

In addition, greenery grew on the surface wherever it passed, and the sound it loathed was getting richer, covering Vorvadoss from all directions. At that moment, it felt as helpless as being denied by the world, and what was even more desperate was that it was too weak to destroy itself.

For Vorvadoss possessed the power of vitality in nature.

In order to change this predicament, Vorvadoss followed its instinct to mimic different creatures and extracted superior life sequences to evolve, which made it gradually become stronger. Vorvadoss, transforming into a human form, sensed an inseparable origin from far away.

“If I wake it up, maybe the desolation of tranquility I long for will come eventually.”

However, he was hindered by some sort of power. For this, Vorvadoss needed fellows to break that barrier together. First was Vulthoom, then Shudde, and finally Lloigor and Zhar.

Although each of his fellows carried different desires, they did not refuse to go to the land of origin to awaken the supreme power. Everyone treated Vorvadoss as the leader, following his instruction to accumulate energy, until one day they met “him”— Laplace, another of the same kind.

“Submit to me, and I can ensure your desire to be achieved.” Laplace announced. His attitude carried the weight of an undoubted fact. “Only I have the power to lead you through the barrier and can unleash the origin that conceived us.”

“You cocky bastard! How about I cut out your tongue to stop your bluff!” Roaring with fury, Shudde charged at Laplace with hostility, but his attacks were all eliminated.

Despite Vulthoom, Lloigor, and Zhar joining the fight, they were nothing compared to Laplace.

Observe, deconstruct, counteract, and regenerate. These were the abilities of Laplace.

Vorvadoss was no exception. Laplace took a step as light as a snowflake and flashed in front of him. His white complexion beautifully set off his golden eyes, which also caught the full attention of Vorvadoss.

Raising an innocent smile, Laplace held Vorvadoss’s hands. At the moment, those noisy sounds of life that had been haunting him finally came to a halt, resulting in a peaceful mind. This made Vorvadoss unable to suppress the inner emotions to tear. At that moment, he was all Laplace’s.

Since then, their force had changed. Laplace took the lead; Vorvadoss became his right-hand man. Under his command, they no longer relied on extracting life sequences but absorbed the vitality of planets to grow stronger.

However, getting stronger also made the sounds of life louder and louder, putting him into utter agony.

“Poor Vorvadoss.” Laplace embraced Vorvadoss, letting his head rest on his left chest. At the same time, Laplace circulated power to counteract the energy of Vorvadoss.

Plop! Plop!

Vorvadoss heard nothing but Laplace’s heartbeat. His suffering soul could finally be settled down. Relaxed, Vorvadoss leaned into his arms. Suddenly, Laplce smiled. 

“You’re interesting, Vorvadoss. Your desire is destruction. You enjoy deadly silence. You pursue all the negativity, but contradictorily, you possess positive energy in nature.” Laplace touched his face gently and whispered, “How ironic. How desperate.”

“You’re correct. I’m longing for nothingness, praying for barrenness. But my power is creation in nature.” Laplace’s words made Vorvadoss have nowhere to hide, as if a drowning person attaching to his savior.

“Laplace, you are what I have been envisioning. You master the truth, and the one to put an end to the world. You will lead us to that void of peace. Please, fulfill my desire.”

“Vorvadoss, I assure you. Once I acquire that power, I can become zero.”

“Zero?”

“As an individual being, my observation will interfere. In order to be omniscient, I need to become zero, making myself intangible.” Laplace put away his smile. “To be zero, I can observe and analyze the entire dimension, so as to achieve your desires.” His face carried absolute wisdom.

But Vorvadoss soon knew it was a lie. Laplace only favored North’s desire.

North was the first to follow Laplace. Therefore, to him, North was special, not only because of its existence, but also because of its power. North possessed the power of destruction in nature, so potent that even Laplace was unable to observe or analyze it.

North was too soft to control its own power, resulting in a twisted, flawed form instead of a perfect transformation. For this aspect, North was self-abased and even hated itself.

“Hmm, North and I are alike at this point.” Vorvadoss teased at himself as he pondered, but it was deep envy that was contained in his gaze.

For he knew Laplace always put North on the first priority. To fulfill its wish for a perfect transformation, Laplace was willing to become zero.

“But once he becomes zero, it means he cannot fulfill my desire to make the universe barren… NO! I can’t let this happen!”

Finally, it was worth the wait. The moment when North was taken by Eldus, Vorvadoss came up with a plan to take over its place in Laplace’s heart.

As expected, Laplace went to rescue North. Vorvadoss, acting normal as always, followed his order to transform into an embryo attached to Ishtar the Eldus. When he tagged along to the Akkad planet of the Eldus, Vorvadoss called Laplace.

Facing the overwhelming power of Laplace, Ishtar was at a disadvantage. At the moment, Vorvadoss appeared to make a deal with her—using Ishtar to kill Laplace and frame North for the betrayal.

Things went well as planned. Despite the urge to stop Ishtar from killing Laplace with North’s limb, Vorvadoss managed to contain his emotions and stopped himself from moving.

Then Vorvadoss suddenly stood in the way as Ishtar finished her job to flee, which put her on full alert to his threat.

“…What do you want? I’ve done everything as you told me.”

“Yes, you did perfectly,” he answered gently. Emitting lights of vitality, Vorvadoss covered themselves with the iridescent brilliance and aromatic flowers instantly. Dazzled by the beautiful scene, Ishtar did not see a coming vine from behind.

“AH!” A tense feeling was sent from the lower body. Ishtar found that her legs were tied by vines. 

“What do you mean by this?”

“You hurt Laplace. Even though it was my order, I couldn’t help myself from the rage.”

“Ha, but even so, you can’t kill.” Ishtar was clever enough to know the nature of Vorvadoss’s power. With her arrogance and sarcasm, Vorvadoss agreed without a hint of fury.

“Right. I can’t kill, but he can.” Vorvadoss gazed in the direction from which huge noises came. Filled with the power of destruction, North was slaughtering Eldus in the place; Ishtar could still feel its tremendous power at a distance.

“To make the kill quick, I need your legs tied.” After leaving the words, Vorvadoss left Ishtar alone and went to the top of the middle tower, where the corpse of Laplace was lying.

Soaking into the bloodbath, Laplace looked peaceful and holy, interpreting horrible death into a new beauty

Vorvadoss carried him with both hands like a fragile treasure, and then ascended to the universe. Travelling through planets, he came to the far end of the galaxy, where a hidden planet was.

Vorvadoss put Laplace on the ground; his power of creation made the gray earth surface vital with greenery and bright flowers. Soon, the whole place had become a resplendent garden.

“Laplace, I’ll save you, at the expense of my life.” Vorvadoss ripped his chest open to expose his beating heart and the embryo, which was the original form of their race. 

“I can’t destroy myself, for it goes against my power. But I can create til my life is drained.”

Blood started pouring from Vorvadoss like a stream, eventually becoming a crimson lake; enchanting fire spheres were conjured to illuminate both of them.

“How ridiculous I am. Even my own death is a contradiction for me. Laplace, you’ll be teasing at me again if you see this, won’t you…”

Vorvadoss wore a smile as if hearing Laplace’s laughter. This time, no more despair and grief, but peace and relief.

“Sleep, the loved Laplace. Observe in dreams. When you wake up again, the world shall fall for you.”

Vorvadoss got closer to his face, trying to kiss him. However, he held that desire back. In a more subtle way, Vorvadoss stroked Laplace’s soft cheek with his long eyelashes, as a kiss lasting forever in his heart.

“By then, bring me the barren universe as I wish.”

Then Vorvadoss crushed his embryo to drip some slimy fluid onto Laplace’s embryo on the left chest. Splendid lights were gathered to cover Laplace with translucent feathered wings.

Splash! Vorvadoss was blasted into blood and flesh, filling the entire planet. His power not only made the place fertile, but also gave birth to an intellectual species, later called “Origin of Demons”. There unfolded a new story with Laplace after his awakening…