Chapter 28: A New Beginning

Adeu fell back, removing his hands from the white circle and started breathing heavily. "What the hell was that?" he muttered.

He had seen everything, how every Zeten had died in the blessings ceremony, the strength they exhibited, the sacrifices, and the heroism.

Would he be able to do that? Would he survive there? Adeu was shaking. He hadn't thought the blessings ceremony would be like this.

He looked around, seeing thousands of students beside him. It seemed they had experienced the same thing too. As they woke up, they found themselves here.

Some students looked as shocked, scared, and puzzled as Adeu, while others arrogantly smiled and chatted about weak humans and how much control the gods still had over them.

It seemed some already knew the details about the blessings ceremony, but Adeu didn't like it. He felt bad. How could the gods be so cruel? he thought.

Then a voice echoed, and everyone froze. Ten thousand gods were attending the ceremony, seated everywhere.

The vast building was filled, and on the stage, ten gods sat on their thrones, overseeing everything. Everyone watched them in tense anticipation, and then...

One more god appeared in the middle. He wore a golden long kimono and a golden hat on his head. His voice echoed with an otherworldly resonance,

"The Blessings Ceremony is about to reach its conclusion. We have ten survivors, and now the gods will decide who among them will receive our blessings.

Ten pitiful humans, whose lives will be forever altered by the mercy of the gods."

With a wave of his hand, ten humans materialized on the stage. Each had different hair colors, and their eyes were blindfolded. They knelt on the ground, their hands bound in golden locks.

The tens of thousands of gods in attendance gazed upon the Zeten humans before them.

Whispers filled the air, some gods commented on their appearances, others expressed curiosity, a few felt pity, but the dominant emotions were arrogance and disdain.

Hatred simmered beneath their divine exteriors as they regarded the humans with contempt.

The golden-clad god continued, his voice filled with an air of divine authority, "Observe these mortals, who have endured trials beyond mortal comprehension.

Their courage and resilience have brought them here, yet it is by our grace alone that they shall rise or fall. We, the gods, hold their fate in our hands.

Let us now choose who among them shall be elevated by our benevolence, and whose existence shall be forever changed by the touch of the divine."

The voice continued, "The first god to choose his blessed will be..." Everyone was on edge, knowing that the first god to choose had the advantage.

Most eyes were on Atlas, the boy with black hair whose strength and powers in battle were well-known. The likely candidates were Atlas, Elijah, Edmund, or Omen—each had demonstrated remarkable prowess.

"The first god to choose their blessed will be BETHEL, the god of knowledge and wisdom."

The announcement caused a stir. Disappointment and murmurs of discontent spread through the crowd. All eyes turned to Bethel, not with admiration, but with palpable disdain.

Adeu was perplexed. Why did the gods hate Bethel? How could they harbor such animosity towards a true god? Weren't they afraid?

The disdain was clear, even among the other nine true gods, who watched Bethel with arrogant smiles.

Bethel, however, was unperturbed. His serene, angelic face, framed by beautiful white hair, showed no trace of the insults or glares affecting him. He walked with calm determination.

Bethel approached the kneeling figures, stopping first in front of Atlas. The tension was thick as everyone anticipated Bethel's choice.

But to their shock, Bethel moved past Atlas. He continued past Edmund, Omen, and then Elijah. The crowd erupted in murmurs and exclamations of disbelief. Some even laughed.

"What the hell is he doing?" someone shouted. Laughter rippled through the assembly.

But Bethel remained composed, walking with a purpose until he reached the last figure in the line: a boy with white hair.

The gods remembered this boy well. He was the one who had swum in the black toxic water to save his friend, risking everything.

But they also saw him as the weakest among the ten, the one without significant powers, the most useless.

Bethel paused before the boy. Even the true gods mocked him. One with the Red hair and eyes laughed, "The weakest true god choosing the weakest Zeten? I thought I'd seen everything.

We gave you the first choice because you were weakest among us, and this is how you waste it? Bethel?"

Laughter ensued, but Bethel remained unfazed. He extended his hand, pointing at the white-haired boy.

"I've made my choice," Bethel declared, then calmly bowed and returned to his throne, resting his head on his fist.

The crowd gradually quieted down, whispers replacing the laughter. Adeu watched, still trying to comprehend Bethel's choice.

He had known, after speaking with Bethel, that there was something different about this god. Adeu couldn't fully understand it, but he sensed that Bethel saw things in a way the others did not.

Dune felt a sharp pain in his head, and then he woke up. He found himself in a dark room, and standing before him was the true god, Bethel. Dune looked at him, a bit shocked but not afraid. He spoke, "Why would you choose me?"

Bethel laughed softly, "I felt like it would be more interesting."

Dune obviously didn't believe it but he was confused. The moment Bethel chose him, he had lost consciousness and woke up here, alone with Bethel. "Are the other Zetens in the same situation as me?" he asked.

"Yes," Bethel answered.

Dune looked down, pondering. "What do you want from me now?"

Bethel's expression was unreadable. "I want you to survive and become stronger, strong enough to fight for yourself. That's your only choice.

You will be blessed by me. I will share some of my power with you.

I'm asking for nothing in exchange but for you to survive and grow stronger."

Dune was taken aback. "What? Nothing? You think I'm stupid? There's definitely something more, and by not telling me, I feel like I'd refuse if I knew."

Bethel smiled. "Of course there is something more, but you have no choice. You either die or live. You have many things to lose, Dune. Remember that.

Your brother and friends are now also blessed, which is good for you. But the other three that you don't know, what do you think they'll do? What do you think their gods will tell them to do?

Obviously, to kill other blessed Zetens and ruin other true gods' plans. I need you for my benefit, but you also win from this situation. You can become stronger."

Dune listened, realizing that Bethel wasn't wrong. Still, it didn't feel right not knowing the true reason behind all of this, but he didn't have a choice. He looked at Bethel. "So now what?"

Bethel stood up slowly. "I will tell you my true name. You will only pray using that name, if you want to ask me something important or if there is an urgent situation and you need help.

"Take this." A ring appeared in the air, glimmering with a white crystal that seemed to pulse with a soft, inner light."

"What is this?" Dune asked.

"That's a ring. This is how I will share some of my power with you. When you go back to your world.

Remember that in your world, only minutes have passed.

You are still close to a forest next to your destroyed city, Fein.

In this dimension which is separated from both gods and humans world, where we currently are, time passes faster.

16 days have passed here, but only 16 minutes in the world of humans and gods.

So, Dune, when you go back, you still need to survive. Monsters are walking around everywhere in Fein.

When you go back you need to find one creature with white tattoos and beautiful white wings, but it might find you first.

When you find it, you just need to say the word XXXXX. When you say this word, the creature and its powers will become yours, but be careful noone other than you should heear this word.

That's how I will share my power with you. You will receive the mark of the blessed, which means you will be able to control your Zeten better and be less likely to lose control of your powers.

Like that, the higher-ups and King from your main city called Rendely will spare you all and let you live in the city. That's what will happen."

Dune was overwhelmed, struggling to process all the information. Bethel sighed and pointed at Dune's chest. "Take a look."

Dune looked down and saw it—a white cross tattoo on his chest. "What? Where did this come from?"

"Thank me for that. And now, Dune, it's time to say goodbye. I wish you luck, my precious blessed human." Bethel was about to leave but then stopped.

"Oh, I almost forgot. One more thing. When you hear the word XXXXX from someone else, you should wake up."

"What? When I hear someone other than me say the word XXXXX, I wake up? What does that even mean? I don't understand."

"You will,"

Bethel said as he left. The room around Dune disappeared, and he woke up in the forest, lying down with snow falling on him from above. And like that, he was back in the human world.