Chapter 1 : The gods

" Good morning God and thank you for this blessing " Icon heard a lot of voices in his metaverse as midnight strikes ' You all should sleep at this time it's midnight , not dawn ' the inhabitants of his metaverse appreciated the eternal life they got when they entered the metaverse .

Icon complained as he goes outside the metaverse to see the rest of his believers seeing the dead people who were supposedly dead in the body but came to his metaverse " Hah I just love setting up my web and gathering players to play in a world " Icon sarcastically told himself " And play god when people go in my metaverse "

Icon has practically mimicked the laws of physics in the real world making everything in the metaverse very much alike to the real world except that he had added a system that grants access to the internet " I even tried to tell them about a fake stimulation but they were all convinced when some siblings who dead together never changed for the better ... what's worse I had to admit I was lying "

Icon looked around with the satellite to see if there are any nearby civilizations so he could warn his believers and defend himself " At least there aren't any " Icon went back to the metaverse and watched some curious scientist who was using extra functions Icon added to the universe .

These functions let the scientist gain an upper hand as they don't need resources and can go to an empty planet to test some experiments . Everyone was said to be blessed with this ability by their god Icon . Although this was because he was in the metaverse that is a perfect copy of the world outside .

Icon selected a blind spot and took the form of a white-haired teenager wearing a thin scarf , thin unzipped jean jacket , a shirt , long pants and rubber shoes " Oh it feels great to be a human " Icon came to a country and went to the fast food to grab breakfast to eat ' Having real taste buds is better than altering my tongue at the metaverse . '

He tasted the great combination of culture as he took pastry , sausage , eggs , coffee , and vegetable salad " You eat a lot " " Of course , I do love breakfast at the most a fulfilling one " Icon smiles paying with meta currency which was with the form of a coin of the shape that squeezes the letters on his name which is like a square with an inscribed circle , a diagonal from the top left down to the bottom right corner and a line that halves the square vertically .

Icon took his breakfast to the road and see a lot of shrines and temples that were taken down ' Must be because the current generation has faith in me ... I wonder if they miss their dead parents though ' it isn't a surprise after all unlike the old god's Icon who didn't pose as one .

He created the metaverse and allowed those who had died to go there and let them access the real world through the internet .

And the perfect copy of the world made them all think that Icon was a real god as a scientist that went there proved to the real world that the metaverse was the same ' Those gods better not be looking for trouble . ' Icon sips the coffee looking at the unattended places that used to be full on Sundays .

Icon couldn't care less if the believers he took in leaves him ' It was fun but if they want to leave . Who's stopping them ? ' Icon took a seat on the staircase to see some students earning money with the internet as the circulation of the economy expanded thanks to free access to his metaverse .

' I'm quite impressed these guys chose to stay here at least they listened to some of what I told them ' Icon took a bite of the egg using chopsticks and put the chopped sausages into his mouth " Mmr " Icon looked at the park that was a good scenery to have while eating lunch .

Icon looked around remembering a replica of the real world he made that is a link to this planet so it is updated frequently ' And there it is ' at the center of the park was a hologram of a cube as this is the form Icon took when he was operating at his website or server ' Though technically they aren't wrong this was my base form ... a sphere was not something I want to go for '

Icon still loved the hologram thanks to being a simple image of a cube ... rather than a detailed art that emitted the narcissism of gods ' Kids are adorable for believing in me ... though this one is probably very grateful because his sister died and he managed to still take care of her from the other side '

He looked at the smile of a brother watching his sister from the screen . The sister was very weak and her health was dropping . The brother prayed that she would have a healthy body like everyone in the metaverse .

He appreciated his ability sometimes even though he felt very bothered being seen as an immortal god ' Though I wasn't worshipped people just had their faith on me instead '

He suddenly felt something strange but it wasn't anything normal ' What is this feeling ' Icon continued his breakfast thinking it might be coming from a stranger so he went to the alleyway . Crime rates have reduced to zero thanks to having a god-like figure with living proof of his existence .

' Being cautious isn't a mistake ' Icon disappeared from the dead end and what he wasn't expecting was that he appeared in a dark place ' Where is this ? ' he looked around to see a lot of dead plants and even corpses ' Oh great so demons actually exist and this is hell ' Icon sighs and could still feel his escape unblocked .

' Are they here because I was taking away the souls of their believers or something ? ' Icon sarcastically grumbled in his mind and saw himself in his cube form looking at the reflection ' Should I adapt a less attractive disguise ? ' he hears the winds blow ' Then again I don't think I have the luxury to do so '

Terrifying figures dropped from the skies one that has 3 pairs of white feather wings and the other with one large pair of dark hairless wings like a bat " This must be the god who is taking our believers " Diablo looks at Seraph who was frowning at Icon ' I knew it ' Icon understood that these two beings are gods themselves .

" You're a big problem " Icon dragged the two into his metaverse a throws them to the ground altering the hardness " Ack " the two gods looked at Icon who had arms with six fingers on a hexagon " What do you want me to do huh " ' I'm guessing let those people in the metaverse leave so you can collect them '

" That's not something a fake god like you should tell us " Diablo shouted back " I knew it " ' I think these two don't like it when no one visits them '

" Sorry but I already ask if they want to leave but they don't " Icon dropped down and turned to his human form " But if you want to force them " he gripped his scarf and turned it into a broad sword " Then I'll be the one to stop you "

He teleported in front of them and slashed the sword to their wings " Ugh you dare try to harm us " " That is the reason why I bought you here " Diablo stood there but the metaverse was Icon's territory he can control how hard and soft the things " Argh " ' Maybe this was a bit too much ' Icon let the sword down and letting it disappear to the ground and back off .

Icon threw back his arm and grabbed the sword that came out of his sleeves " but I don't want you here " he jumped to them and slashed his swords but was blocked with a fork and a shield " Don't think we will just stand " Diablo swings his fork sending the sword of his hands .

" This was just a distraction anyways " Icon disappeared and the area around them changed as they could see stone walls reveal before them " He tricked us " Seraph tried to run forward but hit the dead end of a maze Icon set up " We are not listening to you fake god " Icon left a prompt that tells them to work together .

' At least I got something from them ' Icon stood on a planet with two orbs one was Diablo's demonic power and the other was Seraph's saintly powers ' And copy ' the powers were saved into a file " Alright I should study this . "

Icon took Seraph's powers and widened it ' Now this isn't too hard to study ' Icon expanded Diablo's power to have the same reaction " Hmm a demonic and saintly combination " Icon started making some alterations on the two powers " I can't wait for the results "

A sudden tremor at the maze Icon set up ' Did they think I was talking about brute force ? ' Icon opened a screen to see the maze's reflect damage affect the two gods ' Maybe I should ask for information ' Icon send a cube to transmit his message " Hey I'll give you a key which will eliminate a block when you use it ... But you have to give me useful information . "

Icon muted the speaker so he didn't have to hear the two gods' nonsense ' I should tell the inhabitants ' Icon started writing stories based on the two gods' memories ' I should prepare them for anything just in case ' Icon wrote the history of saints and demons and their traits ' Saints the ground keeper of nirvana and Demons the interrogators of purgatory . '

" Done " Icon took a look at his mail but no information was given " That was just an out of gratitude anyways " Icon started to read some messages which were prayers from the people " Okay filter out some daily prayers " Icon went through the prayers as he accelerated his mind speed " Okay got it "

He read through some old and answered questions and compares them to the ones he picked .

God, why don't you teach us the knowledge of the world ? Because then all of you wouldn't learn on your own and discover the secrets of this world .

God why do you give us this power ? To give you all an advantage to learn .

God is there a stronger power you're going to give us ? If there is then I'll wait until you all are ready then I'll give it to you .

...

" I was the reason for their faith in me " Icon replied to the messages and went to the manuscripts a place where only he can add things " At least some are reading them ... Though this feels like people who subscribed cause the reads are close to the population in the metaverse and the ones that have an account outside "

Icon opens a shelf and stuffs the books of Saint and demons " And what else should I do ... summon a Saint or Demon ? " Icon needs to consider this as the metaverse is both a reality and a virtual world " Though I would love to make an actual Nirvana and Purgatory "

Icon would want that but doing so would bring the population there into fighting instead of discovering " Should I program them like the livestock that lives here ? " the livestock that lives in the metaverse are essentially programmed to follow the habits of normal livestock.

The only ones that are alive or sentient like everyone else are the pets of the population and strays that live inside cities . Icon opened another plane or dimension or maybe platform and designated one as Nirvana and then designated the other one as Purgatory " Okay first I'll leave some saints and demons to look after the place ... gotta make sure they are programmed "

He based the creations on the two gods' memories and felt the maze empty " Oh right I should've known " Diablo and Seraph had gone to Purgatory and Nirvana respectively ... they're currently being chased by beings of the same level of their power " What in the Purgatory demon is this ? "

Diablo ran from giant demons that runs the metaverse purgatory and an equal to Diablo . But because he was outnumbered Diablo could only run and so can Seraph she had to run through a beautiful forest but Diablo had to run through thorn vines .

' Should I bring them out ? ' Icon didn't want two older gods looking foolish . Icon can only wish to make the intimidating figures look like pitiful children rather than let them be humiliated as strong figures .

" No wonder she says she would turn them as pitiful forms if they used to be like gods and everything " Icon sighs internally closing off the screen and concentrating on the news which were quickly piling up conspiracies that Icon is hiding purgatory and nirvana from them .

" They are very active to get attention " ... " Not like this is too much of a problem " Icon went back to the real world and sensed the real purgatory and nirvana " Shall I pay them a visit "

Icon teleported to Nirvana to see a big palace above clouds and a very clear sky ' This place sure is beautiful in person ' Icon flew around undetected to find some saints in many different forms ' Kinda creepy how there are a lot of different forms of saints and demons . '

' Hope they all like my addition to the copy ' Icon had modified some other things he could imagine and gave it the power adding it to add to both of the afterlife grounds .

A few examples would be a holy sun , bloody sea , giant spider , Metatron , demon sword and saint crown . The two gods were running around a copy of their world as many unfamiliar traits were inside ' I'll wait for their apologies . ' leaving nirvana Icon to venture into purgatory .

There wasn't much since it's just full of demons killing each other for power ' They should do something about them ... even the population at the metaverse has better fighters than them ' Icon looked at the desolate lands filled with cracks , corpses, cliffs, and castles .

" I don't think this place is any good ... May as well send those gods out with a reminder " Icon went to his purgatory and nirvana looking at the gods caged just like he programmed " Take this as a reminder to not mess with my believers " ' I hate calling them believers but this is the most protective position they can take '

Icon sent them back to their bodies in purgatory and nirvana as he moved Seraph's body to her home world " Okay now to teach them how to move from the metaverse to reality . Just for self-defense . " Icon sent a file to the library catching the attention of the metaverse .

" I won't let them ruin the peace ... so I'll make sure they are stronger " Icon watched the web which is accessible by anyone in and out of the metaverse whether they have a computer or not .

" I have to teach them a lot of things right now " Icon hastily searched for ways to make his teachings in commanding the metaverse to let it affect the real world " I can already hear the Saints and Demons preparing to wage a war ... though they will need a human to open a portal to their world for this or a lot of power "

Icon uploaded more news to the web alarming them to resist the temptations of the demons and the rewards of the Saints " They would listen right ? ... After all the technology has peaked so quickly so any man won't even need to work to have a living "

Icon had used the memories of the demons and saints to discover other gods so he needs to stay alarmed or they might attack the population " Though those guys have to be smart to tamper with the metaverse to get to me "

He went back to the real world and stood on the roofs of buildings in another time zone where it was night . Icon sensed the presence of demons and saints trying to open the barrier between their worlds .

' Good thing that special forces are learning to exit the metaverse ' Icon taught them a skill to exit and imitate his abilities but the scale reflects their experience .

Icon can leave the metaverse and materialize temporary objects . But temporary or not the effects they can do are like a real weapon . So a sword made from a temporary material of the metaverse will still have the ability to mess with the real world like the cut it made is still there .

" But for now I'll be at the front lines ... They will take a while to learn all that " Icon took a deep breath and shouted using the combined powers of saints and demons to only let them hear him " COME HERE AND FIGHT ME "

He started to feel space opening to make the connection between purgatory and nirvana to the world . He loosened his scarf and pulled it off his neck " They're here " he started running to the edge of the roof and created platforms like stairs . He felt a figure revealing itself in the clouds and looked up to slash a saint who was spreading its wings and fall after Icon cut it in half .

The wings opened as it loses power to reveal the saint which was an eye with a cross " Now purge it " a black gas wrapped the saint as it was pulled in whilst the gas shrunk " Now for the demons " the ground start to break and cars drifted away from the cracks

People ran away screaming and cars turned away from the cracks as some cars got stuck on the bulging road " Oh no you don't " Icon fell to the ground looking at the cracks as demons came out . The road broke and cars were pushed to the sky .

Icon set platforms to catch the cars and boosted his speed to jump on the debris as his speed made him see the world in slow motion giving him time to save the pedestrians . He moved the civilians away from the demon and then dealt with it .

He first pulled the demon out of the hole and then made a platform to bring it up leaving a large hole behind " Let's take these to the skies " Icon merged the two opposing powers and wrapped it with his scarf to turn it into a sword of the saints and demons' powers .

He grabbed the handle which was wrapped with his scarf and turned it into a katana " You are a demon " he looked at the giant demon with many eyes on its wings , horns and one giant eye in the center .

" You even have some helpers unlike that saint " Icon blocked a beam using some holograms and then absorbed the power into his scarf " Take it back " he messed with the power and the scarf on his hilt opened to partly wrap an imaginary cone on his arm .

" I think I need two blades " Icon turned his body and did a downward diagonal slash to the demons cutting a few and giving the big eye demon a reason to block . Icon looked at the wings covering the weak spot " Anything else other than eye lasers ? "

He felt some change and looked behind to see the people behind the windows turning to stone " Great " he connected with his nirvana and extracted the Seraph's powers ' I haven't tested anything so a guarantee would be great ' he blocked the eyes and sent a blessing to reverse the petrification .

" Your turn " Icon punched the demon by extending the platform and blasting it with a heavy light weakening it and sending it to his nirvana " You fake God surrender or face our might " the whole world heard two voices as Icon could feel the two gods very angry .

Icon destroyed the sword and took the scarf wrapping it back on his neck " Then take this to your domains cowards "

But Diablo and Seraph were not cowards but still combined their powers to create a saint/demon hybrid for the world " So you finally gonna play huh ? " Icon disappeared from the platform and then the hybrid felt danger coming .

" Then let's play " Icon blew a hole in the sky which took the hybrid into the metaverse " You should've taken that opportunity to bring me to your domain instead " Icon scanned the real-world hybrid and made copies to overpower it .

" There isn't much in it so I won't care about it " Icon stopped the hybrids and destroyed the real one separating the saint and demon halves sending both back to their respective grounds . Icon went home with plans to make a fusion of nirvana and purgatory . He went back to his house and hears the sound of wind and metal .

" Glas what are you doing ? " Glas who looks like a five-year-old was greeted by Icon . Icon's kid was on a grassland making bodies of different monsters to test the program she added on their system " Morning dad " Icon smiled and took a seat " Morning too , did you eat ? " " Yes I wanted to try pizza this early " " And anything else ? " " Ow a few strawberries "

Icon smiled and watched Glas make more monsters " Have you been reading some demon slayer genre ? " " Yep I already made an invasive but stable genetic sharing , I'm just reading for inspiration " Icon looked at some monsters used the base of humans " I discovered that there are gods "

Glas was surprised making her run to Icon and sit beside him " Really ? " Icon nods and shows her a minimized version of Seraph and Diablo " This is a saint and this is a demon " " So I can make them too ? " " Yeah but you know this stuff is only temporary right ? " " But a good learning material " Icon smiles and gives her a memory storage .

" Here is where you can find the lore and some 3d files for imagery and a full analysis and a couple of derivative worlds made from the original nirvana and purgatory " Glass looked at the chip after looking at the hologram " When did you get them ? " " This morning " " Wow so it isn't as amazing as the entire metaverse " Icon smiles and lets her hold the box as he looks at the fight of the monsters .

" Just so you know they called me a fake god " " Sounds literal what you do are always temporary and can never stay at the same place unless you support it yourself " Glas looks around the world of the metaverse Icon supports " Yeah of course I leave some out since I don't want to burden myself with too much to support "

Icon looked at all the knowledge he taught to the citizens and then at Glas " But taking care of a little girl is much harder than supporting my metaverse " Glas smiles and hugs her dad despite having their seemingly physical forms modeled from the normal human body .

" Dad I want a pet " Icon looked at her ' I could go around the purgatory and nirvana to randomly get one ' " Okay can you give me a description ? " " I don't know anything is fine as long as they are like a puppy . " " At times like this I wish you were picky " Icon left Glas and went out to find a pet just for her as he read through the brain waves of the animals around to filter .

He wanted to find a strong one since them having a puppy personality would be much more adorable ' But I can't have one with a nasty personality ' Icon remembered how he went to purgatory and jumped into it as he heard screams of help ' They have been managing this world for quite a while before I even created the metaverse '

Icon felt a little sorry having to let the ancestors of his metaverse inhabitants rot here ' Maybe I will take them in after beating up Diablo and Seraph ' he walked around giving himself a demon form ' I can feel the gazes of other demons they must think I have no demonic power since I have a human form ' Icon looks at the imp and traps it inside a cage " Hey you let me out " the demons have no sense of respect even to those that are stronger than themselves .

Icon tilts his head and read through their minds using their brainwaves and found some useful information around these parts of the purgatory " What are you looking at huh !? " Icon glares at it as the imp cowered in fear .

' If I spare them I will lose reputation ... But maybe I can give them to Glas ' Icon sent it to the metaverse and looked around the parts of purgatory to figure out some way to make the two gods submit to him so he can give the people back their ancestors .

' Money should make the world go round but if they are gods I have to figure out what currency they use themselves ' Icon also found out that demons are sadists so they should like any products that caused great suffering . Icon opened a chat and sent Glas some messages .

"Glass the imp you have like watching people suffer so show them things at the old dark web" "Okay dad is the saint opposite to that and watches something wholesome instead ?" "Probably🤔" Icon looked around to see skulls and hear screams ' So this kind of nature was made not innate '

Icon walked around ignoring the screams and made sure he was avoiding their attention at all cause ... though it was not like for any of the sufferings to ask for help from a demon ' I'd rather not fight a god I already have a lot on my plate like supporting the metaverse myself ... though those guys are learning to do the same so I will probably be able to let them have fun on their own without needing my support '

The purgatory shook as Icon assumed that it was Diablo raging ' He's like those spoiled brats who are always praised and never had hate comments ... The saint probably feels the same way ' Icon walked as if it wasn't any of his business and thought of the two gods' memories ' Rather than reading through their entire memory which is potentially time-consuming I'd rather use that data as some pastime and rather find the information myself '

Icon digs into the recent memories of the imp to get some great information . For example, the one and only important one was that Diablo is gathering his forces to leave purgatory and find something which Diablo calls essence .

Icon took Diablo's and Seraph's memories and filtered with the essence of the keywords and found out ' So the essence is like their source of power then ... Then I'll start my research with creating essence without needing my support '

...

Glas looks at the imp who was transported and saw her as a fragile girl growling at her ' It's like an angry chihuahua ' Glas opened a media of the dark web and showed it the past crimes of kidnapping "actors" into a reality slasher show to the imp as it watched the trailer and became very intrigued " You like it ? " the imp was too immersed in the plain game of cat and mouse .

" I have more that may be fake but are also even more gore " the imp doesn't understand the last word but could assume it as something related to blood and gave her a nods full of enthusiasm " Okay then I'll let you out " Glass deletes the cage as the imp fell on the floor by a few inches .

" I'll be back for your food " "Dad what should I feed them ?" "Not sure but I would recommend something like the demon essence a type of essence Diablo made ... I'll try to send some to you for now maybe cook something for them they could eat anything according to their recent meals Here's a list of possible meals" Glas nods and went to the kitchen .

" What should I make for them then ? " Glas scrolls to the list Icon sent " Maybe blood sausage would , do they do like blood "

The imp was slowly losing its physical body and took the body made out of things that creates the metaverse which is a derivative of the material that can turn into anything as long as the creator knows how to .

' I wonder what dad is doing ? '

[ Unknown ]

Glas's original program where she gained sentience gave her a reply . This program was originally her when Icon made a program to assist him until he thought she was sentient . So he separated the program and the sentience adding an anti-sentience program since he was inexperienced in taking care of kids .

Now the original program stays as Glas's assistance program . Glas found the recipe for the blood sausage and got the ingredients . She boiled the pig nose with her spices , mixed pork belly scallions and garlic together and mixed them all before mixing glutinous rice .

And finally , she went to grab the container with pasteurized pig's blood but caught the air instead " Huh " she found the imp drinking the blood and smiled " They love blood " she placed a note on her notepad and got another pasteurized blood .

She mixed them and then got noodles " And then some vermicelli noodles " mixing it again Glas made a machine pop out and took some clean pig intestines and pulled them to the pipe and started stuffing the mixture in .

The sausage was tied and then boiled with some blood leaving the sausage . Glas took out the sausage from the pot and started to pan fry them and heard splashing . She turned to see the imp bathing in a pot she used to boil the sausages.

' Cute , Like a kitty who loves the temperature of 30 degrees ' she looked at the temperature of the pot find it at a boiling temperature of 90 degrees Celsius ' Dad did say there was a lot of fire and lava at purgatory . '

...

Icon was walking around purgatory with a radar he created to search for the essence " Found it " he dug on the ground and found a red essence ' Seems very different from what that imp had in its memories . '

Icon took a scan on the essence and found the trait ' Still a demon essence except it is different ' Icon took the essence out and heard a lot of growling " Oh no " Icon disappeared with the essence and returned to the metaverse near his house to see Glas holding blood sausages playing with the imp .

" Dad your back " Glas dropped the blood sausage and the imp caught it and dug its fangs on the sausage and sucked the blood out like a vampire . Glas jumped and hugged Icon making him drop the essence .

" Yep just a quick trip was enough " Glas looked at the little orb that was burning " Uhm what's that ? " Icon turned to see the hellfire and the imp who just jumped into the fire rolling around " Oops kid be careful that might've been bad if I dropped it in a real house "

" Yeah I probably shouldn't have done that " Glas nods in regret " Sure let me stop the spread " Icon swiped the flames back into the essence and the imp grumbled " If you want purgatory fire that bad I'll make you one "

Icon recreated the fire and the imp started to soak in the heat while Icon got the real purgatory fire essence " So I got the real essence here must be a branch of the demon essence who knows there might be demon water that might be black and corrupts things like life and gives pain "

Glas looked at the essence and compared it to the demon essence " Maybe you can make holy fire by taking the fire part out " Glass made a copy of the fire part and a flame erupted like a volcano lighting up everything .

Icon and Glas were stunned and Icon held her hand stopping the fire " Let's not do that for now "