Chapter 4: Prologue (4)

In his last moment, the kid stepped beyond the line as the crystal began glowing brighter. It then began humming while purple lightning was emitting. When the kid tried to run away, he was zapped by the lightning while the terrorists and Jeremy watched in horror. The humming grew louder and louder to the point it echoed throughout the city… no… to the whole world.

The world shall hear the sound of humming

At that moment, Jeremy remembered those words. He looked at the kid, who was still being zapped, closely. There was yellow lightning starting to surround him little by little. The terrorists didn’t realize it yet. While they were distracted by the immense power that the crystal displayed, he hid behind one of the desks while covering his ears and eyes. Seconds later, the lightning died down and the crystal returned to its original glow.

“What the hell was that?” Kiara asked her boss.

Alam smirked maniacally, “Power, Kiara.”

“What happened to the kid?” One of the terrorists asked curiously.

The second terrorist stared at him in confusion by the question, “What do you think? He was fried up!”

“I don’t think so. Look…” Kiara pointed at the kid.

All of them then looked in front of them where the same kid, who was zapped by lightning, came out unharmed and unscathed while staring at the ground with his eyes closed. The terrorists point their guns at the kid with Alam and Kiara doing the same. They have no idea on how he survived, but they’ll definitely put an end to him.

Alam chuckled, “The Old Gods must’ve protected you beyond the grave, kid. But unfortunately, I’m still here.”

When the kid lifted his head, he opened his eyes. The eyes were glowing yellow as his entire body began to cover in yellow lightning while his hair turned white. The terrorists looked at each other in fear while Alam found it fascinating that the kid acquired one of the gods’ powers.

Jeremy looked over and stared at the kid in shock, “Impossible.”

“What are you doing, idiots!? Shoot him!” Kiara ordered the men herself as her leader was enamored by the godly ability.

When the terrorists began to shoot at the kid, the bullets weren’t penetrating his body. The bullets stopped dead after having contact with his skin. The terrorists were heavily confused, but that didn’t stop them from continuing shooting at the kid while Alam was still staring in awe.

The kid, who was covering his head out of fear, realized that the bullets weren't doing anything. He stared at his right palm as electricity was forming some kind of globe around it. He then turned back his attention to the terrorists, and with pure anger, unleashed bolts of lightning from his hands which struck the terrorists as they began to shake aggressively and painfully.

Alam and Kiara dodged the attack in advance, as Kiara watched the men’s slow death in horror while Alam began to look like a maniac from the fascination.

On the other hand, Jeremy was denying that the same kid who was normal earlier now possessed the power of a god. He stared at the same exact computer that Pythia sent him a warning about. He began to realize that their words weren’t belony, but facts. And the fact that they know about the Theos Krustallos and knowing the prophecy… means that they too were exposed by the God Crystal.

They have the power to know the prophecy… just like Pythia also known as the Oracle of Delphi from Greek Mythology.

“Everything made sense now…” He whispered to himself.

The other terrorists who weren’t electrified to death ran around him and shot bullets behind his back, but they weren’t penetrating once again. The kid turned his head around, intimidating the terrorists, before running towards them at incredible speed and electrified them to death slowly.

Once all of the terrorists were killed, he turned his attention to Alam, who felt remorseless about his men’s death, and Kiara, who pointed her gun at him with shivering hands.

“That was very godly of you, kid.” Alam said. “I’m guessing you’re going to kill us now?”

“Don’t encourage him, boss!” Kiara said angrily while tears were flowing from her eyes.

The kid growled before pointing his arm at them, “You will… die now.”

Before the kid could fire one last lightning bolt from his arm, the lightning around him dissipated before fainting on the ground. He collapsed due to exhaustion from using his newfound abilities. Alam expected this, because while the kid may have the power of a god, he isn’t used to using it, meaning there’s a limit to how much he could go on.

“Do you believe it now, doctor?” Alam then stared at Jeremy who was still hiding behind the desk. “The impossible?”

“I… believe… believe so…” Jeremy was still in disbelief by what he witnessed. He initially thought that superpowers are nothing more than human’s imagination of mimicking animals, but then it became a reality when this kid gained one due to the Theos Krustallos. His dream from earlier… wasn’t just a dream. It was a memory… from the dista past.

Alam stared at the unconscious kid before looking at the Theos Krustallos, “Now that the crystal is stable for now, it is safe to pick it up. Tell the men upstairs to retrieve it, Kiara.”

Kiara nodded while trying to calm her heartbeat down, “Yes, sir.”

“You knew…?”

Alam laughed, “About the whole ‘electrocuted’ when in contact with the crystal? Of course, yes. I am no idiot, doctor. I learned the capabilities of the crystal from my family. The real question is how this kid was unaffected by the crystal.” He then walked towards him slowly before putting his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “Which is why you’re coming with us, doctor. You’re going to be our head scientist.”

“I refuse! Why should I work with you, monsters!?” Jeremy denied his request to join a terrorist organization.

Alam laughed, “You don’t seem to understand, doctor. That wasn’t a request. It was an order. Besides, if you refuse, your beloved wife will… let’s just say… be either on the Field of Elysium or Hel. How’s that sound?”

Jeremy clenched his hands tightly while biting his teeth in anger before calming down with a defeated expression, “I shall go with you.”

Alam smirked before patting him in the back, “Excellent. Pleasure to be working with you, doctor.”

When the rest of the terrorists stormed in and picked up the crystal, avoiding their fallen comrades, Jeremy stared at the computer where Pythia sent one last message before deleting the entire conversation: I told you so.

The regret in Jeremy’s eyes for refusing to destroy the crystal because of a “ridiculous” prophecy started to dwell in… and he’ll have many more regrets upon thinking of the horrors that the Fatherland will do to the crystal. They will undeniably raise an army of people with special gifts. This wasn’t just the new beginning of gods. It was the new beginning of gods and monsters.

It has been eight months since the incident at Archon Corporation occurred. News spread across the country as well as theories began to pop up on who initiated the attack. Some proposed it was the Fatherland while others stated it was simply a drunkard crashing through the building like an idiot.

One thing is for sure is that the Archon Corporation was avoiding any comments about the missing crystal, but the great scientists who collaborated with them began to give the company a hard time as their plans were flushed down the toilet.

The scientist who discovered the cure of dementia and inventor of the Full-Dive VR Headset is still missing until this day, not knowing whether he is alive or not. His wife, Sara Scott, refused to give any comment and grieved for her missing husband. She moved back to her parents’ home in order to avoid being followed by the media.

The talk about the Archon Corporation incident had since died down, but people are still curious on who attacked such an important company and what was the company hiding, as conspiracy theories began to emerge. Some even attempted to sneak in to find answers, only to be caught and spend ten years in prison. Nobody knows the answer, not even the government themselves.

Somewhere in Russia, the Fatherland had a secure underground laboratory where they experimented on the Theos Krustallos. The missing scientist, Dr. Jeremy Scott, has been working on the God Crystal for five years without any proper rest and meal.

He was basically a slave to the terrorist organization. He’ll only have those things after he finds a way to weaponize the crystal by granting the members “superpowers”, but it has been unsuccessful so far. He discovered that the reason adults are unable to possess the powers of the gods is because they are incompatible.

Their mind and body are too mature for the powers to form, hence why the crystal disintegrated them instead. That is also the reason why children so far are the most compatible because of their younger mind and body. That explains why that kid, whose name is Dion Vasileios, was successful.

Speaking of Dion, he hasn’t been seen for five years. The reason being is that he is contained deep beneath the earth. He gave him the codename Zeus the God of Lightning, Sky, Rain, and Wind as well as the King of the Gods from Greek mythology. Wherever Dion is confined, he is still alive but he will never get to see the sky anymore and the voice that the doctor hears from him is a scream of despair, echoing through the halls. He could tell that he has been tortured, and probably experimented on him by mad scientists for either satisfaction or research. Another proof that he’s alive is that the lights kept on flickering occasionally for the last five years, probably an attempt to escape from his prison.

“Any news, doctor?” Alam asked curiously while covered in blood.

This man here is Alam, the leader of the Fatherland. A Nazi-like terrorist organization, though the only difference between them is their ideals. He recently came back after slaughtering the people in Denmark, as they currently hold the record for the usage of technology surpassing South Korea, which made them a bigger target for the Fatherland.

He, along with his loyal members, wished to be gods in order to rule a world without technology. A world reverted back to ancient times when gods reigned supreme over mortals. A world where mortals didn’t experience freedom and live under the guidance of the gods. It was sickening to him.

There was a reason why Ragnarök occurred in the first place. If they become gods, then a second Ragnarök will surely arrive in the far future.

Jeremy groaned while scratching his overgrown beard, “Not yet. This is difficult to have experiment on, Alam. Theos Krustallos was created by the Greek God of Fire and Forgery, Hephaestus. How am I supposed to make the godly crystal grant the powers of the gods to adults? There’s no possible way.”

Alam growled, “I’m growing impatient here, doctor. It has been five years since I’ve spared your life and your wife’s. If you do not discover it by the end of this month, I’m going to slaughter you and find a better scientist… or I will let you use the children to make my army and make things easier for you. Are you satisfied with that, doctor?”

Jeremy sighed in despair before lowering his head, “Yes, sir. I’ll do… my best…”

“You better. Right now, I’m going to meet with the Vice President, Andrei Yaroslav.” Alam said while chuckling before leaving the laboratory. “He’s secretly a member of the Fatherland, you know.”

Jeremy then sat on the ground with a defeated expression. There is no possible way to make the crystal give powers of the gods to adults. The only way for Alam to have an army… is to experiment on the children, which he doesn’t want to have in his mind right now.

He could just imagine the brutal training regiment the children will have to undergo. They may have the power of the gods, but they have limits as well. At the same time though, he wants to go home already. He wants to reunite with his wife who probably thought was dead.

A darker part of his mind lingered in five years about using children to experiment on in order for him to go home and be with his wife, but he has been resisting it because it’s so borderline messed up.

“What am I going to do?”

After sulking, he continued to find a possible solution to make the Theos Krustallos grant Alam and the members unfathomable powers, otherwise, he’ll have to resort to one thing he doesn’t want to do in order to achieve his twisted assignment.

Over the course of the month, the black circles around his eyes were getting wider and wider, his hair was messy, and his beard had overgrown. He is so tired, but he cannot stop until he finds a solution. It was all effortless in the end.

There are only two days left before the month ends. He sat on his uncomfortable bed while curling himself like a ball. He is currently fighting his thoughts like a psychopath. Thoughts between whether or not he should commit the vile thing to achieve his goal.

“I shouldn’t! But I should! I want to go home! But I don’t want to harm the children! I have to go home! But then children will be crying! Does it really matter to me right now!? I must…! Must not!”

Jeremy stared at an old photo of him and his wife on DisneyLand, which was taken in 2025, that was stuck to the wall. He walked towards it while tears were flowing from his eyes. He touched the picture of his wife, as he desperately wants to feel her touch once more.

He smacked his head into the wall, as blood was flowing from his forehead. He then stared at a broken mirror with a tired yet determined expression. He has abandoned his morality in order to be with his wife soon. He doesn’t care about what would happen to the children anymore. Right now, he only cares about himself.

This is his final decision.

“ALAM!” He called out for the leader. His voice echoed through the halls of the laboratory.

Alam walked towards the desperate scientist with a smirk on his face, “What is it, doctor? Have you found a way to turn my men into gods?”

“No… but… I choose… the second option.” Jeremy said before falling on the ground due to the tiredness and hunger. “I… can make… an army of gods with children… just… let me live and… get me back home after this… hell…” He then fainted.

Alam ordered his men to open the door to stare at the unconscious scientist. He kneeled in one knee with a smirk, “Your mind finally broke huh? Took you long enough. Guards, bring me to his PROPER room now. And give him enough meals. Tomorrow is going to be a legendary day for the Fatherland.”

The first guard then saluted, “Praise the Fatherland!”

“Praise the Fatherland!” The second guard did the same.

“Are you really going to let him go once he is done with the experiment, sir?” Kiara asked.

Alam chuckled, “Of course. I am a man of my word. Besides, I want him to experience the nightmares of the inhumane experiments towards the children once he cleared his mind. He’ll feel so much despair to the point of driving him insane. That is already a satisfying torture.”