Death

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Ryan angrily trashed the altar, which had a few vases with withered flowers. He still had hopes of finding some treasure, but unfortunately, they drew the short straw.

'All the treasures must be in other rooms.' A fire of greed was lit in the depths of Ryan's eyes. He contemplated whether it was worth it to go to war with others for momentary rewards. He still didn't know what others received. Maybe nothing, and this whole tomb was a desolate wasteland of treasures.

"R-Ryan, we should seriously leave." Rosa didn't even bother to search for treasure and tried to convince Ryan to leave with her. If he still stayed stubborn, she would leave by herself.

"Fine." However, Ryan agreed with a regretful expression. Rosa sighed with relief, but when she half-turned, a gust of wind pushed past her, almost knocking her down.

Ryan's mouth turned agape, and then the wind struck him in the chest, sending him tumbling across the room. As his back crashed into the wall, he saw someone through his dizzy vision. There were white hair strands and dark eyes, as if they hosted darkness inside the pupils.

Rosa's body turned cold as she slowly cast her gaze in the direction of the white-haired man. The pale man was staring silently at the empty coffin. It was impossible to know what he was thinking.

"Argh..." Ryan's groan of pain attracted the white-haired man's gaze. The paladin's blood almost froze as he sensed his body temperature decreasing rapidly, as if he had taken a dip in a frozen lake. He, however, managed to climb to his feet under heavy pressure.

"W-who... are you?" Ryan asked with tightly closed lips. It was as if gravity were fighting against him, causing his knees to sink deeper and deeper till he was almost kneeling before the white-haired entity.

"You... are... trespassing in my home." The white-haired man spoke with a voice oozing with coldness.

...

THUD!

"Hmm?" Percy stopped filling the bags and looked in the direction of the hallway. He and Nicholas had filled seven bags with gold coins, but the pile hadn't turned the slightest bit smaller!

"What was that?" Nicholas also heard the strange sound. "It was as if... someone were fighting. Did someone fight?"

Percy dropped the bag, and his eyes turned cold. "They must have been Ryan and Rosa. I knew that fool couldn't resist the temptation."

"What should we do?" Nicholas asked while side glancing at the pile of gold coins. He would very much want to stay in the room and continue filling the bags. With each full bag, his wealth was increasing.

"We should go check." Percy said with a stern voice. "If Ryan couldn't resist his temptations, it is time for Seven Guilds to become Six Guilds."

'Heh, vicious bastard.' Nicholas' lips twitched, but he agreed. 'He sure takes advantage of every chance.'

They walked out of the room, entering the dimly lit hallway. The seven and a half bags worth of gold coins stayed behind in the room.

...

"Y-you are..." Rosa's trembling gaze saw the name on the altar. "Kuolema... the False God?"

"False God..." Kuolema, the white-haired False God, clenched his trembling hand into a fist. The mere mention of his title angered him.

The weather outside turned unbearable as the trees near the tomb were struck by bolts of silver lightning.

The guild members from Seven Guilds had stopped their exploration of the ancient ruins. There were a few that found mouth-watering treasures, but after the weather turned sour, they began to run away back to the contact point. They had full faith that their guild masters would come back safely.

Inside the room, Kuolema turned to Rosa with a black flame flickering in his eyes. The single gaze brought Rosa to her knees. Then, a strong gust of wind struck her in the side, throwing her across the room into the stone wall. Crack. Her ribs cracked as a result, and as she fell to the ground, her whimper of anguish rang.

"Bastard!" Ryan climbed to his feet and jumped across the room, crossing the distance to the white-haired False God with a single jump!

"D-don't..." Rosa tried to stop him, but to no avail.

Ryan's arm muscles swelled as he raised his longsword and hacked it down with formidable strength.

Kuolema moved his neck a little and turned his head just a tiny bit to see Ryan coming. Then, his mouth opened, and he stated,

"Die."

Ryan's expression fell, and he crashed straight down to the ground as if gravity had flipped upside down. He tumbled on the ground, rolling once before coming to a stop next to Rosa.

Rosa's eyes reflected Ryan's lifeless face. Her eyes trembled as immense primordial fear struck her and made her unable to move.

Ryan Crossword, the Metal Paladin's guild master, had perished!

"P-please..." Rosa placed her forehead on the ground, prostrating. "The adversary of Gods; the great ruler beneath the heavens. I am your loyal subject... a worthless human. Spare my... useless life."

The white-haired Kuolema grabbed his ears as if there were a loud sound. His black eyes filled with madness until the voices disappeared and his arms lowered. He turned his cold eyes to Rosa and stated,

"Die."

"N-no!" Rosa screamed, but then her body turned limp. She fell next to Ryan as if she were in his embrace. Their eyes, void of light, stared at each other, their eyes staying wide-open as though their corpses were unable to close them.

Kuolema turned away from the two worms he had just killed and climbed inside the coffin. Then, he placed his arms on his chest, crossing them before closing his eyes. His breath turned steady.

In the dark hallway, a handsome, green-eyed man covered his mouth with his trembling hands. He was the Poet. He witnessed everything. After looking in the direction of the coffin, he began to walk backward.

Then, when he saw the amount of light increasing behind him, he accidentally collided with something. A cold sweat drenched his back immediately, and the visions of his death surfaced inside his mind. He expected the word "Die" echo behind him.

"The Poet, what are you doing?" Percy asked with a frown and turned to the dark hallway. He couldn't exactly see what was on the other side.

The Poet let out a long breath that he held in. He turned around—Percy and Nicholas stood there—and then he covered their mouths. An immediate frown appeared on their foreheads.

"Do not speak..."

Percy and Nicholas saw the seriousness in the Poet's face and nodded. After the hand was removed, they looked at the Poet— they wanted answers.

"Hey, what was the sound?" North and Era Dark Sideray walked out of their room. Their foreheads were drenched in sweat as they hurriedly tried to pack all the things.

The Poet continued to breathe heavily, and then he spoke with a fearful look. "Ryan and Rosa... are dead."

Gasp!

Four simultaneous gasps entered the Poet's ears.

"Did... they kill each other?" Percy asked. It was the first thought that he had. He thought they both became greedy for the treasures and fought for it. They happened to injure themselves in the process and died from their injuries.

North covered her mouth in shock. 'Rosa... Ryan...'

Era Dark Sideray drew a sign of a flickering flame on his chest. It was the second sign of the God of Mountains and Fire. There were two factions, the Mountain Faction and the Fire Faction, that had different beliefs. He belonged in the Fire Faction.

"No..." the Poet fearfully spoke. "It was the... False God. He isn't dead... he is very much alive, and this is his home... We trespassed into the house of a False God!"

"That's ridiculous!" Percy shouted as if it were the most ridiculous thing he had heard. He pushed the Poet to the side and stepped into the hallway. "I will go retrieve their bodies, and then we will do an autopsy. We will know how they died and if you were responsible for it!"

"Don't!" The Poet tugged Percy's sleeve and tossed him out of the hallway with incredible strength. After Percy landed on the ground, his face turned red. He climbed to his feet and drew both his hammers.

"Calm down!" Then North jumped between them and tried to calm them down. She looked at the Poet gently and asked. "Explain what happened in detail."

The Poet looked fearfully at the hallway and wished to be gone from here by now. He scratched his head and explained everything that happened. At first, he felt the strange gust of wind brushing past and thought he saw a white-haired figure.

Then he went to check on Rosa and Ryan because the white-haired figure seemed to go there. Then, he explained how the False God killed them with a single statement—the Death Statement—and then the False God laid back on the coffin as if he was about to sleep.

"H-he might be sleeping... we should go right now." The Poet pushed past them and ran out of the room. The footsteps grew distant before disappearing into the distance.

"I don't think he lied." North said gently while fearfully looking at the dark hallway. She was already instinctively walking backward.

"T-the treasure. D-do you think we can..." Nicholas spoke hesitantly.

Percy opened his mouth but bit his lips to keep it shut. He was sure that if he spoke, he would agree with Nicholas. However, if the False God was actually alive and they tried to steal from him, there was nowhere they could hide.

The False Gods have perfect memories. They would know if even one single gold coin was missing. Then they would be able to hunt them down and kill them, including their entire family, until there was no one with the same bloodline alive.

"No." Era Dark Sideray spoke seriously. He could feel a cold presence at the end of that hallway, and for now, he believed what the Poet said. "I will not risk my family for momentary rewards."

He imagined his children and grandchildren engulfed in flames. If he followed his greed, then that vision would most likely come true. The screams of agony of his children and grandchildren was the final nail in the coffin.

He turned around and left the room.

North, and Nicholas looked at the dark hallway before turning away and following the old guild master.

Percy stayed behind for a short while. His gaze was fixated on the assumed room of the False God. He had learned to only trust himself and his own instincts. Now, his instincts told him that the Poet was lying.

However, he lacked guts to listen to his instincts. Since he became Systemer, he had heard about tales of legendary False Gods. They were the highest rank before godhood. In some religions, they were treated as deities.

The primordial fear of knowing that there might be False God, made him close his eyes and walk away from the room. His eyes showed hatred, not at False God since he didn't dare to hate a diety, but at himself.

After everyone's departure, the circular room turned quiet with the three doors still wide-open.

...

Forsaken Realm. Mach Island, near the edge of the island.

"Has he... fallen asleep?" Two identical-looking men crouched behind a bush. At that moment, rain began pattering down. A heavy storm had arrived. The rain fell sideways, making staying there near-impossible.

"Shit, shall we go already?!" A short-haired man spoke to his twin brother, who had an identical face but much longer hair.

"We haven't found anything here! I am not going to leave empty-handed!" The long-haired brother pointed at the person, who was lying next to a turbulent river. "Let's rob him, then leave!"

"Argh, you do it! I am going to leave!" The short-haired brother turned around and left while trying to cover his head with his coat while the rain pattered down with force.

"Shit, fine!" The long-haired brother left the bush and ran over to the unconscious body. After reaching the drenched man, he noticed that he wasn't unconscious; he seemed dead!

'Ah, unlucky fellow. How did he die?' The long-haired brother shrugged his shoulders and rummaged through the black-haired young man's pockets. He found a drenched phone, a silver wristwatch, iron-black revolver, and a poorly drawn map.

'How poor is he?!' He thought aloud until he found a pocket that was swelling. He touched the pocket and knew that texture was exactly like his pouch. He found money!

'Finally!'

As he was about to take the pouch out, a loud rumble echoed above him. With his drenched face, he turned to look at the black sky as if night had fallen. However, it was only the immense, dark clouds that had gathered on top of Mach Island.

"The weather sure is shitty here!" He shouted and lowered his gaze back to the black-haired young man. At that moment, a silvery streak flashed across the dark sky, and then the loudest rumble so far boomed.

RUMBLE!

Hundred miniature lightning bolts were sent straight to the ground.

The long-haired brother was touching the black-haired young man's coat when he was struck by the silver lightning bolt. His hair rose, with bolts of electricity flashing past his eyes. His eyes rolled backward, and he fell sideways into the river with charred skin on his arms.

"Aahhhhhh!"

A pair of eyes opened with a slam.

They were deep blue eyes.