The Return of the Ancient God.

Nick was looking at people under his feet, whom he could turn to ash without lifting a finger. It would have made it much easier for him, but every time something stopped him. However, each time everything also ended the same way - with the death of two of them.

How many tens or hundreds of times has this been repeated? How many such worlds had to be destroyed before returning here? Among the thousands of copies, only this one was the original. A world that belongs to his Queen. Created by her.

His home. Her dream. Their hope.

But even it will eventually have to be destroyed in order to be saved. Better to let the fragments of the former greatness remain, the fragments of the times of the once existing civilizations. Others will walk on them, leaving bloody traces in the memory of those whose hearts have ceased to beat. Better so than emptiness.

"Girl, give me the knife. This thing is dangerous for a fragile thing like you." Nick jumped down the cliff and landed quietly opposite Elena.

David pushed his wife behind his back, Marcus grabbed their hands and tried to teleport, but nothing came of it.

"Too noisy," Nick snapped a finger, the beeping mini-computer in David's hand crumbled into ash. "And too predictable," he looked at Marcus, "Can't you see that space is obscured by a canopy of illusion? You can't get out of here."

"I know how an illusion is created," argued Marcus. "It's just an infusion."

"Yes, when it comes to consciousness. And no, when we use matter," the creature smiled with the corners of its lips. "You have only a tiny particle of the initial power. You are not able to know the essence of things," it stretched out its hand towards Elena, "Child, give me this thing. Do you understand that I can get it without asking you? There is no point in fighting the inevitable."

"We disagree with that," David took a step backward, pushing Elena away from the dangerous foe, "And it's good if you let go of Nick's mind and not interfere with our goal. If you consider yourself a rational being, then you must understand our reasons. It is always easier to destroy than to create."

"Your reasons?" the ghost chuckled, "Your reasons are not substantial enough to cover mine, human. Thank me for using this body as a vessel," he held his hand, outlining his silhouette, "And not your child, as it was before."

"Like it was in Mexico?" said Marcus, hoping for a positive answer, but he was wrong.

"As in all other worlds that I had to destroy. You haven't forgotten about your mission, have you?" at these words, Marcus felt a chill. Was he wrong to bring Elena and David here? "The soul collects payment to return this tribute to God when he comes to take what belongs to him. How many souls have you collected, Marcus Taubert?"

How many? Almost all! Marcus thought bitterly to himself. But he did as Amelia advised, and she was never wrong. This was what he believed and hoped for. On the other hand, whatever abilities she possessed, she was primarily a mortal person. And there was nothing about Nick in her notes. Was it that everything they were striving for and doing all this time was a direct way into a trap that they wanted to avoid?

"It doesn't concern you. I do not intend to obey you. You are God, or an ancient descendant - your time has passed. Free Nick and get out of here," Taubert hissed.

"He is dead."

"What?"

"In this world, he is just a copy of the original. In order to completely master this body, I erased its consciousness. It is more comfortable. In the case of a little boy, a time block would have to be set," the ghost replied indifferently.

Elena screamed, the men turned pale. "N-no, you're lying," David whispered. Their Nicholas could not disappear so easily. They spoke less than an hour ago. This is simply not possible.

"What can I do, the boy remembered that he killed the father of his beloved girl first, and then his parents. More precisely, I had to use his body for this, but it doesn't change the essence," Nick shrugged and took a step forward.

"David, get back!" Marcus threw up his arms, blocking Nick's blow with an energy shield. The air wave carried them to the side by five meters and scattered them on the ground.

Elena screamed and clutched her hand, the kukri knife fell from her palm along with the empty pendant. David crawled to his wife, felt her dislocated arm. The air became viscous like slime. The man coughed, feeling something nasty fill his lungs.

The skin on the woman's arms flared with blue patterns. Elena touched her husband's chest, and David immediately began to breathe easier.

"Awakened guardian of memory?" Nick stopped a few steps away from the couple and looked at Elena, "Hmm, I didn't expect," there was genuine surprise in his voice, "This has never happened before. That's what it means, original, not a copy. You have more from a god than from a human, little girl," he said thoughtfully.

A whip of fire sliced ​​through the air. Nick jumped to the side, avoiding Marcus's blow. The creature grimaced with displeasure, moved behind Taubert's back, grabbed the man by the neck and pressed him down with force, "You take a lot on yourself, human. You cannot defeat me."

"Shoot!" shouted Marcus.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

David pulled the trigger, three blocking serum darts hit Nick's body. He loosened his grip on Marcus's neck and fell onto his side.

"What, a mere human body is vulnerable?" Taubert drew his penknife from his trousers, rolled over, and thrust the blade into Nick's stomach. With his second hand, he grabbed the opponent by the neck and sent a scalding wave of energy into the guy's body, destroying his cells.

Marcus turned off his emotions, trying not to think about who was in front of him. It was a threat to his daughter's life. And the chances of a fair victory with such an opponent were negligible.

"You're funny," Nick croaked, showing no apparent resistance. "In a past life, we could even be friends," for a moment his black eyes turned blue back. Marcus hesitated at the familiar look.

The enemy seized the moment. He easily threw off Marcus, jumped to the side and waved his hand. The kukri knife that was lying not far from Elena moved into Nick's palm.

He connected the pendant to the base of the handle. The patterns on the objects coincided, intertwining into a single ornament. The pendant flashed blue, and it ran down the grooves along the blade, engulfing it completely.

Nick ran his hand over the blade, blazing blue fire, and it began to lengthen until it turned into a long sword.

"Hello soul catcher," he looked nostalgically at the ancient weapon, "There's a last job for you, buddy."

Marcus fired several balls of fire towards Nick, but they went out without even touching the enemy. Nick swung his sword, cutting through the air with blue flames. Taubert barely managed to dodge when he heard Elena scream.

He turned around and froze. Nick stood, grabbing David by the head, the blade of the sword was pressed against Anderson's throat.

"Why aren't you attacking? Tired of our game? You know, it usually happened in a more, hmm," the ghost thought for a moment, choosing the word, "Trivial way." He put his hand on David's head, and David wheezed and rolled his eyes.

"Let him go!" Marcus shouted feeling his heart grow cold. If something happens to David, then Elena will suffer too.

The creature grinned, with each passing second it showed more and more emotions, as if revived, "I just take what does not belong to him. Don't worry, it's your turn soon, Marcus Taubert. I will talk to you personally."

He let go of David's head and the man fell to the ground. Elena crawled to her husband, David was breathing heavily, but was conscious.

"Don't worry girl. If you obey, I may be able to save your lives." The ghost moved to the gate and thrust his sword into a narrow hole in the stone slab.

The surface of the gate flashed with white light, it began to spread from the center to the edges, filling the entire space of the stone. A few seconds later, the gate was covered with a silvery glowing veil.

Nick put his hand to this surface. Liquid light flowed down his fingers, transferred to his arm, shoulder, completely enveloped the human body and a couple of seconds later returned back to the gate.

A tall man remained standing in front of the stone slab. His skin was dark, black hair was reaching down to his shoulders. Several leather straps crossed the broad back, attached to the same leather belt that held the cape on the hips.

He turned his head and looked at Elena. Unexplained pain in her chest echoed in her heart. Nick's features were guessed in the stranger, but the man was taller, older, more courageous. His skin was darker than Nicholas's, but his sky-blue eyes seemed even brighter against it.

The man smiled, and the next moment the smile faded from his lips, his features hardened. The blue eyes were clouded with darkness, making them completely black.

"Th-this is…," Marcus glanced at the stranger, completely at a loss as to what to do next.

Elena looked longingly at the strong man standing at the gates of the gods. For thousands of years, his image has practically not changed in comparison with those images of memory that now emerged in her head. Someone else's memory.

"This is the great king of the Sumerian kingdom, the ancestor of the Teser family. Zedaan Ziusudra, the first guardian of time."