Chapter 160 - Epilogue and Prologue.

"This should be enough?" Miyuki asked Tatsuya as she observed the thing in front of her.

"Yes...maybe...probably?" Tatsuya said, unconfidently.

A tiny Yu Yan was sitting on Tatsuya's head; she punched his head with her small fist, "what do you mean probably...it can or cannot. Without Heavenly Dao world would descend into chaos!!! How could you destroy it!!"

Tatsuya sighed, "Well, how should I put it...It's not destroyed at most nearly half of it is cracked."

Yu Yan felt a vein popping in her forehead. She raised her hand and punched him again and again, "what do you mean half of it is cracked!!!!"

Miyuki smiled wryly and separated Yu Yan from Tatsuya's head, "Don't worry...these Artifacts are stronger than you think."

Yu Yan just pouted, crossing her hand, and looked away.

Miyuki glanced towards the Seven Heavenly Profound Treasures, "the treasures have Yin, Yang, Space, Time and other energies. With this array, they should be able to hasten the recovery of Heavenly Dao. It wouldn't even take a few years before it is back as new...Probably?"

Yu Yan was furious, "don't say probably!!"

Tatsuya rubbed her head with his finger, "all right...that was the only way to defeat the Sage Emperor."

Yu Yan let out a breath, "that true...anyway, what if someone tried to take these treasures?" These outrageous treasures. The world would go mad for them if they heard it. Even if they knew the consequences of removing them, there would many who would come after them.

"Don't worry." Tatsuya touched the array, activating it. With that, the seven treasures disappeared while in formation, "These treasures have intelligence, as much as Heavenly Dao needs them, they need Heavenly Dao. No one should be able to find them for millions of years. Not until they are ready to be found."

Although he said so, two faces flashed in his mind. If it was those two, they might be able to find them.

Miyuki held her between her palms, "even if you are angry... we have to leave."

Yu Yan let go of her anger and became downcast, "really can't stay?"

Miyuki opened the system screen and looked at it.

#World Mission has been completed. You will return to the hub in twenty-four hours.

Time Remaining - 01:01.

They got twenty-four hours, but most of the time passed by in creating the array. Not only that, they didn't get anything for a reward.

Miyuki shook her head, "really can't."

Tatsuya bent down to look at sulking Yu Yan, "I heard old people start behaving like a child... it seems that's true."

Yu Yan sighed as she floated up, her body grew; she patted Tastuya's head, "It's ok kid...you don't need to cheer me up."

She hugged both of them, "I don't know where you will go...why did you come here...just take care of yourself. If possible, come see me and the others. Even if it takes you a million years, I will be here."

Miyuki softly patted her back, "you don't have to...there is a big world out there. No matter where you go, we will find you."

Tatsuya put his arm around her waist, "Take care of yourself, and don't worry about others. They can take care of themselves."

"Tell me... are you from a higher world? If I go there...will I find you?"

"No..."

"How long can you stay?"

"An hour."

"Can you stay with me?"

Miyuki smiled at her, "Yes."

Yu Yan sat down at the edge of the destroyed Ancestral Demonic Saint Land; this place only survived because they stood there.

She put her hand on her knees as she looked towards the destroyed area. Everything was gone; not even a speck of dust remained, the whole dimension was destroyed. So, she could see the starry sky from here.

Miyuki sat by her, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Yu Yan watched the starry sky in a daze, "Yes...I almost forgot how beautiful a free sky is."

Yu Yan glanced at Tatsuya, who sat by her, "Thank you..." She turned to see Miyuki's smiling face, "Both of you."

An hour later,

Tatsuya watched the last second ten seconds counting down, taking a deep breath. Miyuki held his hand; she was scared and curious as well they were finally going to see it.

The System.

00:00:05

00:00:04

00:00:03

00:00:02

00:00:01

00:00:00

When the clock hit zero, Tatsuya's and Miyuki disappeared. There was no light, no sound, no movement in space or air as if there was nothing at all.

Yu Yan looked at the sky before closing her eyes and lying down on the grass.

Hub,

Tatsuya and Miyuki appeared in a void. It was mostly void, with a dark land under their feet. Other than one building, there was nothing substantial around.

Heavy Fog covered the surrounding, making things barely visible.

"Onii-sama... I can't sense anything." Her sense seemed to have been stopped by the fog.

"Neither can I...the fog in hindering all my abilities."

They walked towards the building hidden in the fog. As Tatsuya and Miyuki stepped closer, the building finally came into their view.

It was a large wooden building that looked like a bar.

Miyuki read the name of the bar, "7th Heaven?"

"Bar was the last thing I expect." Tatsuya watched the place mystified.

Miyuki put her hand on her stomach, "this is also good. I hope they have something good to eat."

"Now that you say, I am hungry too."

Inside, there were some wooden tables, benches, and stools. It looked ancient from their standards; there was also a bar attached to the restaurant.

They even had an old fashioned jukebox.

Miyuki chuckled, "I didn't think we would see something like that."

"Yeah..." Tatsuya glanced at the beautiful woman behind the bar.

She had long hairs, wearing a sleeveless white shirt that exposed her midriff, with a black miniskirt.

Strangely, Tatsuya couldn't see anything else about her. She almost looked like an ordinary human.

They walked to the front and sat down at the bar.

The woman looked at them with a warm smile, "Tatsuya, Miyuki... We meet again."

Miyuki looked at her confused, while Tatsuya narrowed his eyes, "It said that we will be returned to the hub. Have we been here before?"

The woman shook her head with a smile, "Yes and No. You came here but didn't even stay for a moment before reaching the first world. I will meet you in the future. For the first time."

Miyuki opened her eyes in surprise, "First time?"

"Yes, you could say this is an initiation. Our initiation was done by the two of you."

As if he thought of something, Tatsuya frowned, "Time has no meaning." Ying Yueru said that too.

The woman had a big smile on her face, "Yes, as usual, you are quick about these things."

Miyuki tilted her head, "So you are not the system? who are you?"

"My name is Tifa Lockhart; like you, My friends and I were abducted," Tifa said with a smile.

She knew Tatsuya and Miyuki must have a lot of questions, "Please be patient. I will explain everything."

"First thing first, No one has seen the system yet. There seems to be a divide in time. We can't travel any further than that." Tifa said, raising her fingers.

"Well, travel might not be the right word. More like we can't interact with us of that time."

Tatsuya nodded, "That makes sense."

"Onii-sama already figured out why?"

Tatsuya nodded while being in distant thought, "yes."

Tifa sighed, "It's not fun doing your initiation. I wish I had the other group." She was hoping to see a surprised, puzzled expression.

Miyuki chuckled, "Sorry about that."

Tifa shook her head and continued, "anyway, first worlds are tutorial worlds. The system gives immense freedom allowing you to access the system store. Even preserve your life if you buy something dangerous and manage things even if you make a mess by leaving something dangerous behind."

Miyuki glanced away with a guilty conscience.

Tifa let out a small laugh, "I know...you told me about it. Don't worry, it would be fine."

Miyuki let out a sigh of relief, "well, that's good."

"So? Will things change from the next world?" Tatsuya wondered for a long time what role does the system play.

Tifa continued her explanation after hearing his question, "You see, there are only a few ways to gain system now. Most prominent is to complete the story the world has to offer."

"The story?"

"Yes, the worlds offer a story to the system. We still don't know what they get in return, but there must be something. That is why whenever we visit a world, it is near or in upheaval. But, we do know that once a story has been completed, it will not be repeated. The world would need to offer another story for the next time."

"Can we visit the world we have been to?"

"Yes, you can do that anytime. Although, the time is managed by the system. You need to pay to manage time manually. It's not cheap, but it isn't too costly either."

Miyuki turned to look at Tatsuya, who was peeking at her, and smiled, "that is good."

Tatsuya stroked her hairs, "yes, it is."

Tifa pointed towards the board on a wall, "You can choose a world from there, or choose to rest here. Or even go back to your world rest. I should warn you about one last thing."

Her eyes turned serious, "as I said, the system handles if you mess us in the tutorial world. But, from then on, it puts a severe limitation on you depending on the world. Your abilities, powers, even physical strength are sealed and hidden to fit your character to the narrative of the story that the world offers."

"How far can it control us?"

Tifa understood what he was worried about; at one point in time, they all were, "that was my fault for phrasing it like that, we don't think it is the system that puts the limitation. It is the world that puts the restrictions because it doesn't want its story to be spoiled. Though we can figure out most restrictions that would be placed on us by understanding the world."

"Does these worlds have a sentience?" Miyuki wondered if that was the case. Somehow the idea felt wrong.

Tifa shook her head, "that's the thing we don't understand. Some worlds don't have sentience, while some have beings that control the world or have created the world. We still don't know how the world that doesn't have sentience communicates with the system."

"Being? Not God?"

"In some sense they are gods."

Tatsuya walked over and put the hand on the board, after a while, he removed his hand.

"Onii-sama, Have you chosen?"

"Yes, it's the world we talked about." Tatsuya had decided on the world when they saw the worlds before.

Tifa blinked at them, "would you be leaving so soon? Don't you want to rest?"

Miyuki put her elbows on the bar table and her head on her chin, "No, I want to eat something first."

"Is there a place to stay for a night?"

"Yes, in the basement." She smiled happily, "that good, you should meet the others too before leaving."

Miyuki's eyes sparkled, "tell me about the others and what kind of what did you go to?"

"It's a long story; how about I bring some food first? You must be starving." She walked towards the kitchen and walked in.

After Tifa left to cook something, Miyuki leaned her body on Tatsuya, "I wouldn't mind a good rest."

Tatsuya kissed her head, "Neither would I."

Authors Note,

Tales of Demons and Gods is over and not over at the same time. I plan on dropping after stories for that world. About the changes after the death of Sage Emperor and of the time before Miyuki and Tatsuya return.

I know there were ups and downs with volume 1. I really chose the wrong world to start the story with.

Even so, I got a lot of support. Thank you very much.