They say knowing yourself is the first step to enlightennt.
Well, if that's true, I must be walking backward, because right now, even the god of death is more sure of my identity than I am.
Who or what even am I?
Seriously, at this point even I don't know.
Blinking at the man in the black suit, who sat lavishly in front of like he owned the place which, to be fair, he really did.
I asked in the most polite tone I could muster,
"…Pardon? Could you… repeat that?"
Yeah, I needed to hear it again. For the sake of my fragile ntal health.
"You are becoming one of us," Agroth repeated, his expression as blank as ever.
"…As in?" I pressed, desperately hoping for a better explanation.
"A god."
"…" My eyelid twitched.
I really, really didn't want to wear a suit.
"Am I a… god, now?"
To my question, Agroth for so reason thought for a second, before he reminded .
"The original body of you had 3 Authorities in total."
"Three?"
When did this happen?
Wasn't it only Paradox, and Death? Then what's the 3rd one?
Agroth replied, returning to a giant again, and taking his seat on the throne.
"Sister Ylthea, , and Sister Erise. You had their blessings."
"Wait. Wait. Goddess Eris?" I waved my hand several tis, I blutter, confused. "Isn't she the God of Emotions? I don't recall having her blessings though?
To which he just smiled, "Have you forgotten? You have her in your consciousness."
"Ah," now it made sense, "so, Sera's Authority was also shared with ?"
That's the most logical explanation I can think of.
"Previously, and because she and you are connected, you have as much control over her Authority as she does."
That's good to hear, I had this doubt for several days now, and today Agroth cleared it.
Oh, now they are getting a chance to talk with a God, I can clear out my other doubts.
Nodding my head, I asked another question.
"Just as you said, that my real body had your blessings too, can I ask why did you choose ?"
According to the Nathalia, I was so kind of child of prophecy, who holds power beyond gods. Maybe that's the reason why Agroth blessed .
And in this tiline, he also blessed . And none of the other authorities existed in this body.
Yet, Agroth's answer only deepened my confusion.
"In this world, I blessed you because you needed it. But in your real world, I blessed you... simply because I needed you."
"..."
What does that an?
In this universe, the gods didn't have copy-paste versions running around. There was only one of each, and that was the unspoken truth.
The god nad Agroth, who vanished from my world, without any trace. I found him in this world.
I asked, with confusion and unease.
"What does that even an? Why would you need my help?"
"Haahaa," Agroth sneered, before speaking, "do you rember that day when you first got killed?"
mories of the day that unknown entity killed during my final mission as Hope resurfaced.
Looking back, it was the first ti I had ever been brought back after death.
Just recalling it made my blood boil.
"How could I forget?" I said calmly. "It was the first ti I felt so utterly powerless… facing that thing."
Whoever—or whatever—it was, I'd like to finish what was started.
And this ti, I'll make sure it knows exactly what I am.
I looked up at Agroth. His warm red eyes t mine, that ever-growing grin stretching wider with each passing minute.
There was sothing about his expression.
It was almost as if… he was hiding sothing.
Resting his chin on his hand, Agroth spoke with unsettling calm.
"That wasn't the mont I was referring to. What you believed was your first death… was actually your second."
My mind went blank.
I stared at him like he'd just recited the end of the universe.
"What?!" I blurted, completely dumbfounded.
"What do you an, that was my second death?!"
I tried to reason out.
"It was—It was the first ti I died which I rembered, and before that, I didn't even have that skill. Then how can—"
"Think," Agroth cut off, his tone sharp. "Was that really the first ti you died?"
I wasn't lying!
I wanted to scream at him, but I held myself back.
If Agroth was saying this… then maybe there was truth to it.
So this ti, I thought hard. Really hard.
Every accident. Every close call. Every life-threatening mont I could recall.
But my mind ca up empty.
Nothing ca to .
Agroth tapped his shoe on the floor. A gust of wind surged from the impact, rustling through the room.
"Let give you a hint," he said. "It was the first ti we t."
"I don't recall!" I blurted.
Why did he keep asking these vague, useless questions? Why not just say what he ant?
"My bad," Agroth said with a light shrug. "You probably don't rember because you were in rough shape at the ti. Your Essence was completely shattered. If it weren't for , you'd still have trouble using even your Ice Essence."
He paused, and then added with a glint in his eye,
"But that's history now. I gave you a little gift… along with my Authority."
His eyes narrowed, and his voice deepened ever so slightly.
"It was the ability to use all Elentals."
My breath caught.
The room, the throne, even Agroth's smug grin… all of it faded into the background for a mont.
"A-All Elentals?" I repeated.
I wasn't born with the ability to use all five Elentals.
Like any ordinary human, I was born with just one—Ice.
It was only after the Frostvile Museum Incident that everything changed.
Wait…
"Frostvile Museum Incident?" I murmured, the words slipping out as my brain kicked into overdrive.
I rembered now. That day—chaotic, tragic. Over a hundred people had died, and yet… I was the only one found alive.
But I wasn't the sa after that.
My Essence capacity had surged beyond recognition, and suddenly, I could wield all five Elentals as if I'd been born with them.
Could it be… that I did die that day?
Along with everyone else?
And Agroth… Was he the one who brought back to life?
Did he revive with his Authority? Rewriting the course of my life without ever realizing it?
All this ti, I'd been searching for the answer…
And now, I finally have it.
"Why did you revive ?" I asked, in a whisper tone.
Agroth's gaze turned relaxed.
"Didn't I inform you earlier?" He said, "I needed your help."
"Help? For what? What use do you have of ?"
I asked him desperately.
Why would a being like him, of all, need my help?
Agroth paused for a mont, before he closed his eyes as if recalling so distant mory.
"That day, your will to live was the greatest of all, that even death feared to reach you."
"Perhaps it was your fear of losing others that forged sothing in you… or maybe it was sothing deeper, hidden even from yourself. Either way, in that mont, you were worthy of inheriting death itself."
Even after everything he said, the one thing he didn't reveal was why he needed my help.
But before I asked, he simply responded.
"I am caged."
Caged?
That's what he said.
And there were many ways to interpret that word.
But the way he said it, calm, resigned—it didn't sound taphorical.
What he truly ant was sothing far more literal.
He was actually locked away.
"A god… locked away?"
I was amazed by the news.
"Haahaa," he sneered again.
He sure laughs a lot.
This situation was way more serious than I thought.
"Call it a faith," he said. "On that day, you were the only one worthy."
Clearly it was soone powerful than him, may be so God of other fraction.
And if that's the—WAIT!
"Wait—hold on, there's more I need to ask…" I spoke up again, my brows furrowed. "Did you just say you are locked away? Not… were locked away?"
"You catch it quickly." Agroth responded. "You are correct. I am still locked there."
"Then, who am I talking to here? Aren't you here?"
He was clearly seated in that throne. Looking at with those sharp red eyes of his.
Then, what was he saying that he's locked away right now?
"What you are seeing right now, was a fragnted piece of ."
Fragnted appearance?
What's that?
But that's not my question here.
"So, this is not your real body?"
His grin widened, into a smug.
"If it were to be my real body, then by just a glance of it, you would go blind."
"..."
What a pathetic way to die…
Before, he kept saying the sa thing. I blurred out.
"Why are you locked away? And who locked you?"
To which, he simply called out a na. And when he did, his expression changed to regret.
"By none other than my previous apostle. Nyth Valeshade."
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