Chapter 4

Edward felt like a bomb exploded in his brain. This revelation came too unexpected. These two people in front of him were actual Immortals? No, they couldn't be called 'people', they were Gods!

This happened way too fast! First, he became a Chosen, next, he had to flee his hometown, and now he was already in contact with Gods?! 'Horatia' and 'Olethros noticed his shock. Visible amusement could be seen on their faces.

Edward's every pore emitted sweat. He began to shake.

"No no no, this i-isn't supposed to happen, at least not this fast. Don't all heroes slowly get stronger and fight against an uncountable number of villains, leaving behind mountains of corpses on their way?! And only then do they get to meet the strongest!"

"This is unfortunately not a story of a legendary hero, Edward. This is reality, and sometimes reality hits you faster than you can imagine. Before you can even get up again, reality's next hit is already approaching your face. And trust me, reality doesn't hold back when it punches you. Every hit will be harder and harder."

Horatia sighed as soon as she said that. Then, Olethros opened his mouth for the first time and said with a deep voice,

"All we can do is to resist reality. We can't flee from it and have to face it. Even we, immortal beings, cannot flee from reality. But don't worry Edward, I know how you are feeling. Let me encourage you…

"Reality's punches won't get weaker. They will only get stronger. However, you will adapt. You will adapt to survive, to stand, and to hold your head and dignity high. Soon, you notice that you became stronger and be able to defend yourself against reality's punches, you will even try to resist…

"Then, reality will suddenly get ten times stronger and punch you to the ground once again. It will absolutely thrash you, punch out all your teeth and kick you while you are still screaming on the ground…

"But even so, you will survive if you grit your teeth. You will slowly get up again, get stronger, and resist reality even more. Every time you get hit to the ground, you will get up even stronger and resist reality even more. After countless fights, you will notice that you can fight reality. You can challenge it and even hit it back.

"Living is in this world means fighting reality. The fight will last, for centuries, and even millennia. But, the fight will eventually come to an end, and only your own actions can decide whether you will be the one who's standing at last."

Olethros finished his speech and then became quiet. One could see, these words reflected his past life and hardships. He truly meant to advise Edward, otherwise he would not say these words before he even greeted Edward.

Edward, however, was stunned. He didn't suffer too much in his past months. Yet, it appeared like he would suffer soon. The man, Olethros, wanted to warn him in advance. Edward had a feeling of impending danger. Olethros, noticing that Edward understood his warning, nodded his head and closed his eyes.

Edward, already having an uneasy feeling, then began to think. He thought about the words used and the tone of the Immortals in front of him. He also thought about everything that happened until now. First, he became a Chosen and fled the city to reach out to a Chosen organization to survive.

Then, two people appeared in a forest and told him of a Chosen organization he could join. Apparently, 'The Lady', also now known as Horatia told them of him. He accepted, after all, he wanted to survive. Finally, when talking with Horatia and Olethros, they revealed themselves as immortal 'Gods' and talked about resisting reality. Hardships were apparently about to come.

Edward reflected on everything that happened, organized the information, and pieced all dots of information together. He came to a sudden realization! Shock was on his face! He tried the hardest to stop his shocked expression from coming out, yet, he failed.

Horatia, noticing this, asked,

"Why are you shocked? Have you never experienced any strokes of fate yet?"

But Edward knew that they weren't just talking randomly, the words said had a deeper meaning, he knew it.

"No. This isn't normal. This can't be true. Everything that has happened up until now is fishy. One coincidence is normal, two are suspicious, but three are definitely hiding a huge scheme!

"The first unusual thing to happen was me becoming a Chosen. The chance of that happening is extremely low. But even the lowest probable thing can happen, therefore, I can still accept becoming a Chosen. However, what was weird is how two other Chosen of a certain organization coincidentally found me, and they even offered me a much needed safe-haven!

"Then, on my journey to this place, I was trained in swordsmanship. 'I needed these skills to survive'. I even believed that. It seemed so natural. After all, one should be able to protect himself in case one was attacked. However, shouldn't a Chosen organization train its members in stealth and escaping skills? We want to live in peace, after all.

"The weirdest thing that happened is this conversation. You immediately revealed yourself as 'Immortal Gods', but then talk about resisting reality! Shouldn't you be able to bend reality to your wishes?! Therefore, you two being Gods is a lie.

"Connecting all the dots, one can see the truth! You knew I would become a Chosen, because…

"You made me a Chosen! Nothing else would make sense. You need me for something. Your goal isn't as simple as surviving in this world. You plan something bigger, something that will require me to be able to fight even though I could just use my Chosen powers!

"Tell me, am I right? And if I am, what is your true goal?!"

Edward's mouth was dry. He became increasingly faster while stating his analysis and dropped the conclusion like a bombshell, leaving only silence behind. He was able to see the shocked faces of Jack, Janna, and even Horatia and Olethros.

He felt like it took a great load off his mind. Finally, he could relax. He finally resolved the mystery. The weird things that happened in the past few months finally had a reason, and he knew it.

Even if worst were to happen now, he didn't feel like a marionette that was moved around anymore. One could influence and fight him, but one couldn't deceive him anymore. He could face all the upcoming challenged with a conscious mind!

The silence continued, and Edward waited. He would wait until he got an answer. Horatia then broke the silence,

"You truly amaze me, Edward.

"Not much time has passed since you met us, and yet you've already come up with such a daring hypothesis. Connecting all the clues, questioning the coincidences, and coming up with a logical conclusion. You certainly have a sharp mind. You've earned my respect.

"Yes, the past events weren't just coincidences, and we even made some arrangements regarding you. And you're also right, we are not Gods. However, you assumed that we admitted being immortal Gods because some humans once called us like that.

"That wasn't our confession, this was truly once the case, we were called Gods. Of course, this is wrong, but also not. That is to say that we are really immortal, but not omnipotent. A Lady never reveals her age, but let me tell you that we have witnessed the rise and fall of Empires.

"I like your analysis, but you missed out on some details. You have to dig deeper. Even before you became a Chosen. Think about what happened on the day you became a Chosen. Your old boss revealed secret information about Chosen. That could cost him his head if the nobles were to hear about that. It's unlikely, but it can happen. Why should he take on such a huge risk and reveal this information?

"Next, I want you to question even more, question even the most improbable. Think about the conversation with Pace, did you notice anything amiss?

"Sometimes, even the impossible might be reality.

"As for our true goal, let me read to you a bit out of the newspaper."

Horatia grabbed beneath her robe, took out a stack of cut out newspaper articles, and put them on the wooden table in front of her. Then, she read out loud,

"November 13th, Year 90 of the New Calendar. A fight between Chosen broke out in a city near the Northern Pass. 1356 citizens died due to collateral damage. 456 of them were children under the age of 6. It is suspected that all victims died slowly in the flames that raged the district.

"July 28th, Year 87 of the New Calendar. In Emerald Heaven, two groups of Chosen got into a fight over the mining rights to a certain cave. One group abducted the families of the enemy faction and tortured them in front of the city gates of Rakhlund. The group slowly cut off each body part, and then burned their bodies in front of the city. No one was spared.

"May 20th, Year 78 of the New Calendar. In the north to the Dead Man's Land, a B-Tier Chosen was infuriated, because a postman lost an important mail of him. The Chosen, now identified as Mephisto, the Ripper, kidnapped the wife of the postman and the postman himself. He then tortured the wife in front of him for approximately 23 days. After that, he killed them both.

Horatia hasn't even finished her pile of newspaper articles when she took out an old book from beneath her robe. She continued,

"These are stories that happened before the introduction of the newspaper. I wrote them myself.

"Year 2301 of the Eternal Calendar. Two A-Tier Chosen fought above the capital city of the Imperium. During their fight, one district, 43 streets, and approximately 43000 lives were lost. Before one of the Chosen died, he sacrificed his entire body, dragging another 23000 lives with him into death. As always, children were not spared. The special anti-Chosen unit of the Imperium was not employed due to the King wanting to collect data about the power of A-Tier Chosen…

"Year 2431…

"Year 1984…

"Year 1240…"

Horatia was silent. Edward felt like these events were just history. But something in his heart, maybe it was his empathy, felt pain. It was as if he were alive during the times of death. He could almost imagine the faces of the men and women begging the Chosen not to torture their children, before being ruthlessly decapitated.

Edward didn't want to imagine these scenes, but he could not stop the pictures from appearing in his mind. He wanted to help them, but he was helpless and time has already passed.

"Edward, what I just read out loud to you wasn't even 0,1% of all events with huge collateral damage. There are countless more. They are happening right now, everywhere in this world. From the endless deserts in the south of the continent up to the freezing forests in the North.

"Everywhere you go, you will see destruction and havoc caused by Chos-, no, caused by all humans with power. A King's ruling can be just as bad if not worse than a Chosen going on a killing spree.

"This entire world is filled with darkness and misery. It does not matter whether you're poor or rich, weak or strong. A beggar isn't safe in front of a noble, a noble will have to bow in front of an A-Tier Chosen, and an A-Tier Chosen will have to beg for forgiveness in front of Immortals.

"Can't you see it, Edward, this entire world is evil. That's why we need your help…

"…Edward Harrison, I hereby invite you to join our cause. Do you want to bring an end to all this misery, and…

"…help us destroy this world?"