Cradle, his eyes piercing and cold, stared at the human before him. He was no longer angry or confused, but rather, he was focused on the task at hand. He had been through this before, five eons ago to be exact, and he was not about to make the same mistake twice. He knew exactly what was happening, and he was prepared for it.

The time god thought he had the upper hand, but Cradle had learned from his past mistakes. The god had underestimated him and thought that Cradle hadn't learned anything from the previous encounter. But this time, Cradle was ready to fight back.

With a resolute expression on his face, Cradle knew that he had to act fast. He was determined to stop the time god in his tracks, and he was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that he didn't succeed. His plan was simple yet effective: he would start by completely and utterly annihilating his human candidate. It was the only way to gain the upper hand in this battle of theirs.

Sure, the human candidate could reverse time, but what could even the ability to reverse time itself do against completely insurmountable odds?

“It’s time to move my descendant,” he declared to himself, chuckling lightly. “Oh, my lovely descendants. Oh, the human is going to enjoy this.” The king of the forest himself would move. There would be no buildup. The forest of lightning was going to be razed to the ground by tomorrow. And the human, along with it. “This will be a very strong message to him, that bastard. Does he really think I’m that easy to play with? That we’re so easy to play with? Oh, I’ll do something even he does not expect.”

Thinking so, Cradle waved his hand once more, a firm look in his eyes. A wisp of red escaped out of his hand, twisting and turning like a serpent that had been released from captivity.

Cradle smiled lightly, confidence filling him. This was going to be fun. For him. He would be the one having the last laugh, this time.

*

Achylys stood up, his rugged frame towering over the parched earth beneath him. Beads of sweat dripped down his weathered face, tracing a path through the grime and dust that clung to his skin like a second layer. With a heavy sigh, he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, smudging the dirt and leaving behind a trail of sweat that glistened in the hot sun.

His back ached, protesting against the hard labor of digging. It was a grueling task that required strength and perseverance, qualities that Achylys possessed in spades. But even the most tireless of workers would have been challenged by the harshness of the land that lay before him. With each shovel-full of earth, his muscles strained and his bones creaked, threatening to give out at any moment.

Despite the physical pain, Achylys couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment as he toiled away. For him, the simple act of getting down and dirty was a form of liberation. He had always dreamed of working the land, of growing his own crops and reaping the bounty of the earth. And now, here he was fulfilling that lifelong ambition.

With a wry smile, he took a moment to reflect on the irony of it all. Here he was, a man who had spent all his life in ‘adventure’ and ‘excitement’, now content to spend his days digging in the dirt. It was a far cry from the sheer feats of strength that he'd once been known for, but somehow, it felt just as rewarding.

However, just as he was about to lift another pile of dirt, he noticed something peculiar. Well, more like couldn’t help but notice. It filled his entire line of sight, after all. The all so familiar translucent screen had opened once more, this time without his prompting and for seemingly no reason at all. As he watched, transfixed, letters flickered to life on the screen, revealing a message that made him raise his eyebrows.

In blood-red letters that seemed to pulse with a life of their own, the message read,

The time god wishes to meet you, representative. Are you willing to?

Achylys raised his eyebrows in surprise. What? The time god? Why would he be summoned by such a powerful entity? He was probably the being who’d granted him the ability to travel through time. Maybe because the kitty goddess had requested him to?

However, before he could even begin to contemplate the implications of this summons, a timer began ticking down below the text.

10

9

8

7...

He realized he didn’t have much time to make a decision. Should he accept the call of the time god, or should he refuse and risk the wrath of this almighty being?

"Alright, alright. I'm willing," he finally said, his voice firm and resolute. He knew that he couldn't back down now, potentially putting his future comfortable life at stake.

But as soon as he said those words, he felt himself losing consciousness. His body began to grow weak, and he could feel himself collapsing onto the soft dirt beneath him.

As Achylys drifted off into a deep slumber, he couldn’t help but wonder if the gods were really so inefficient that they could only summon their representatives after making them faint. Or was it just a fetish of the time god and kitty goddess?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

*

Achylys slowly opened his eyes, his gaze bleary from the deep slumber he had been in. He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the person standing before him. The man was tall and slender, with a regal bearing that spoke of confidence and strength. His long black hair flowed down his back in gentle waves, and his eyes were a bright, almost luminous green. Achylys couldn't help but feel a sense of calm wash over him at the sight of the man's kindly smile.

The man's voice was warm and welcoming, like a comforting embrace on a cold winter's night. "How do you do?" he asked, his words laced with a hint of mirth. Achylys couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity with the man, as if they had met before in a past life.

Achylys' eyes became entrenched onto the time god. The god's cloak was made of a shimmering fabric that seemed to shift between different shades of blue and green, as though reflecting the colors of the ever-changing tides of time.

The silence between them was thick and palpable, and yet it was not an uncomfortable silence. Or maybe it was, and Achylys was just used to it. After all, if there was one thing he’d learnt in his years of working at the DHMA, it was that silence was gold when in front of authority figures, especially to leave a good impression. The lesser and more politely you talked, the better.

Achylys could feel the weight of the god's gaze upon him, as though the god was studying him carefully, assessing his worthiness. Achylys lowered his head as a sign of respect; there was no shame in flattering a literal god.

Finally, the time god spoke, his voice low and rumbling like distant thunder. "Achylys," he said, his words ringing through the chamber like a bell tolling in the night. "There is no need for such politeness with me.”

"I am Eriket," he continued, his voice resonating like thunder through the void. "You can refer to me as however you want, but that is the name donned to me by the sacred Origin. I had originally planned to meet you as soon as you'd died, but I honestly wanted to see how you'd deal with such a situation. And you've done extremely well, my friend. I am impressed."

“Thank you,” Achylys replied, a small smile on his face. He was honestly not too shocked at the revelation that he was being tested. Gods were extremely powerful beings, after all. It wasn't unnatural for them to be fickle.

"You're welcome," the Time God said with a warm smile. His eyes twinkled with an otherworldly light. "Now, you might be wondering why I've called you here to meet me, Achylys."

Achylys partially got up and sat in a more comfortable position before staring at the Time God once more, waiting for him to continue.

The Time God's smile remained, but it was clear that something serious was coming. "I'd like to say that it was merely to meet and chat with you, and it is, partially, but there are actually some more pressing circumstances," he said, his tone becoming more somber.

Achylys leaned in, his eyes narrowing. It was likely that this would be the moment when everything would be revealed. The moment when he’d get to know the true core of why he was chosen as a representative and what his final goal would be.

"You see," the Time God continued, "you are acting as a representative for the Kitty Goddess to fight against one of Origin's ten descendants, the last and most pampered, Cradle. And he is the owner of the world you have been sent to."

Achylys nodded. That was within his expectations, an inter-god war. Nothing too wild. It didn’t seem to be a pantheon wide war yet, so that was good.

The Time God's expression was grim. "Cradle has grown arrogant and complacent. He has forgotten the responsibilities that come with his power, and he uses it to indulge his every whim. The Kitty Goddess has grown tired of his antics and has called upon you to put an end to them." Then, the time god paused, as if waiting for some response from Achylys.

Achylys merely nodded in acknowledgment, before staring at the time god silently once more.

The Time God chuckled to himself, seemingly amused by Achylys, and continued in a tone that betrayed a hint of mischievousness. "Phase One is complete," the Time God explained. "Cradle has acknowledged your presence in his world, and his ego has been triggered. It seems he has taken the bait, just as I anticipated."

Achylys was surprised it’d taken this long for a god to find out an extraterrestrial being had invaded his world. Then again, Achylys did have the support of the literal god of time, so perhaps it was not fair to judge Cradle based on such a standard.

"I shall not hide things from you," the Time God continued. "My sole goal is to piss him off grandly, and so will be yours. You must be relentless in your pursuit, for Cradle will stop at nothing to protect his precious world."

Achylys nodded, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. So this isn’t even a full blown war, more like a clash of egos right now. That’s dope. I should be able to deal with anything but gods themselves. Right now, at least.

"Now, Cradle will naturally deliver a message to his descendant to kill you," the Time God warned. "That’s the one form of control he has over his world anyway; the ability to order his descendants around. You, my friend, will have to slaughter all of his descendants one by one and overturn the very order of the system on which his world is based."

Achylys raised his eyebrows. Not because of the hefty info dump but because of the sheer scale of the task. He wasn’t really surprised by how casually the Time God had asked him to slaughter the descendants of another god. After all, he doubted the gods saw anyone but themselves as living beings, as anything but little bugs that were more worthy of extermination than consideration.

He finally decided to ask a question to find out more about his task. “I see. Will my original plan not work out? To grind. I assume that is why you’ve summoned me here, to make me change my plans.”

Eriket smiled carefreely. “Quite sharp, you. That’s why I chose you. But yes. As I said, Cradle will be ordering his descendants. Now, if your goal is to kill his descendants…”

Realization finally dawned on Achylys. “He’ll order the king of the forest, who I assume is his descendant, to kill me before I could do so? Or, at least, to stay more alert.”

“The former, yes,” Eriket replied. “He’ll be sending the king of the forest your way to kill you as quickly as possible and trap you in a loop of helplessness and death, to be even more accurate.”

Well damn. Dying repeatedly is not tight, Achylys quipped to himself. “Then, what should I do?" Achylys asked. "Surely you must have some way out of this conundrum.”

This was the literal time god, after all. He’d definitely have some way to at least prevent that from happening. A god wouldn’t just shrug when his representative was in danger. It would be a wound to their ego and pride. Well, the kitty goddess would, and she was a god, but the Time God seemed more responsible. Well, not responsible, but… still…

“I do, indeed,” Eriket replied with a bright and soothing smile. “It’s a very simple solution too.”

The Time God then pointed at the mortal, a twinkle in his eyes.

“I’ll make you a god too.”