Was everything clear to him now? Absolutely not, he was left with so many more questions than before. If anything, all that conversation did was confuse him even more than before. He was so lost in the current situation that he had to admit the fact that he couldn’t help but feel lost. Nothing was making sense at all.

The Crusader was absolutely certain that the sheer act of absorbing souls was something that was condoned by the Holy Word of the Bible. Yet, here he was, being told the opposite of such a thing. He was fine to go ahead and commit the taboo? No matter how the Heavenly Father tried to spin the act, something was inherently wrong with that explanation. Even if he was returning the divine blessings from the monsters back to God, that still did not change the fact that he was indulging in those people’s souls.

If he wasn’t doing such a thing, then what was the mirror in front of him? Those scenes in each of the shards were clearly those of people, possibly the ones that had the divine blessings. In fact, if he took a closer look, he could spot one that was far too similar to ignore: the throat slitter the Spartan had murdered.

She was busy chomping down on some poor soul, ripping and tearing into their neck with delight. The bastard was laughing while chomping down on flesh and blood, while sitting on top of the defiled corpse. The very scene made his hands curl up into fists, with a growl erupting from his mouth.

The fact that the woman was gone from the world was a blessing to everyone, and yet all this proved his point. The fact that he was seeing her in this mirror proved that he was looking at memories of someone witnessing her undergoing this heinous act. Which made everything even more clear than anything else: this was truly the vestiges of a person. The last remnants of someone, a person.

If he wasn’t eating souls, then why was he able to see such a thing?

“These, what are these, then?” He asked as he gestured towards the mirror, “Are these not the last bits of the person’s soul?”

“The reason is simple.” God spoke right behind him in a gentle tone, “These are nothing more than the last bits of someone’s viewpoint before the passed away. That is due to the fact that their death corrupts the blessing, leaving behind ghosts of their last memories.”

“Then that means–”

“No, my son, those are not souls you are eating. Once more, as I explained earlier, you are merely returning what is rightfully mine.”

“But how? Why would this–”

“As I have said, I have taken my last bit of strength and levied it upon you. At that moment, we have become one: together in spirit. I have attached myself and have begun to take in all the stolen divinity that vile witch has stolen.”

God took a deep breath, before sighing. “So many of my blessings, all stolen by a single monster. A total of six, no, seven minor gifts? Truly, I am thankful for your friend, for he has allowed me to recover a decent amount of my being. Before, I was nothing more than a mere vestige, an echo of what I once was. Now, I have had enough to build up enough of a body, though even now I am still a far image of what I once was.”

“So, that means–”

“Yes.” The Heavenly Father nodded. “I am getting stronger the more divinity you absorb. However, that also means you will be sharing in that power as well, far more than your compatriots would have received. In fact, with the amount that you have obtained just now, your body will be changing to accept such power. You will become greater than you would have been far before, closer to becoming the true arbiter of my will.”

“I–I see. Then, that means I should have no problem using my divine blessing anymore, correct?”

“Indeed. You will no longer have any issues. In fact, I would argue that you be able to have access to some of the gifts that the previous blessings had as well. However, they will not be at the same power as before, as most of the energy has been transferred to help control your ability. No longer will you have any issues with your body wearing down from utilizing your strength. Now, you should have zero problems at all.”

“Then, I…” The Crusader took a deep breath, “Then when I wake up, I won’t be dying anymore?”

“Oh, no. Absolutely not.” God waved his hand, “You will no longer be restrained by any injuries. In fact, I would dare say that you should feel much better than ever before. Power, speed, and stamina all in one go.”

He sighed out of relief, before shaking his head. Then, he opened his eyes and looked right at the Heavenly Father.

“I only have one more question.”

“Indeed, go right ahead and ask.”

“Why me?” He asked, putting a hand to his chest, “You have clearly selected others to go through with your will as well. The Spartan is one of them, as well as the vampiric giant that I have fought previously. No doubt that you have brought in others as well, no? Then why did you choose me to fight for your cause and become your champion? I have not seen real battle at all. I only trained to be a warrior, and already my inexperience has stalled me from doing any further action correctly on my own.

“I failed to defeat the giant. I failed to save my ally from the horde of soldiers. I had to resort to corpse-robbing to defeat the titan. And now here I stand, unable to defeat this witch on my own, while the Spartan had been able to defeat her without fail. So, why did you choose me to become your true champion? In fact, why did you bring others into this world to do your bidding if they don’t have any desire to do so?”

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God seemed to pause at that. He did not open his mouth to respond, nor did he move to try to interject. Rather, he stood there for some time before finally speaking up.

“It was desperation.”

“Desperation?”

“The Usurper was right at the door of my throne.” The Heavenly Father sighed, “You see, I had truly no choice. I had to select multiple warriors that were somewhat useful to me in some form. Some of them were excellent choices, while others were failures. I cannot take back my choices, but if I had a decision, I would have taken the small moments of time to make better decisions. All I can ask is that you keep an eye out for the rogue elements that dare to abuse the blessings I have delivered upon them, for they have vile intentions with their abilities.”

“I see.” The Crusader responded. He sighed, before returning a smile back. “I understand. I will do everything to save this world.”

With that, God seemed to brighten up at that. However, despite his positive reaction, there was nothing but suspicions coming from him.

Now that he had the chance to meet God once more, he had to admit: everything sounded good. There were multiple moments where he had concerns about things, but they were all dashed away as explanations came forth. They were all quite excellent arguments, that much he could admit. Even more, the decision to select him was an excellent choice, and he was one that was so trusted that God had blessed him to have a part of him within.

And yet. And yet. Something about all of this was rather… off. There was an aspect to all of this that felt wrong in a sense. The words rang true and felt good to hear, yes, but they felt nearly… empty. However, this wasn’t the place to think over, not when God was looking over him right here and now.

“There is nothing else I need now, my Lord. Please, send me back so that I may do your doing upon the world.”

“I wish you the best of everything, my son.” With that, God waved his hand and before long, the Crusader’s vision swam.

He blinked. He was no longer in that dark world with the mirror and God next to him. This was the stone prison that the vile throat slitter had been in before, a location that was dark and dreary as his thoughts.

He had so many questions after that meeting with God. How could he, in good conscience, believe that person’s words? The fact that they wanted him to continue devouring souls, saying such trite that were clearly lies?

He wasn’t eating souls, and they were merely the last memories before death? Then explain why he was able to witness other acts that certainly wasn’t a person’s dying breath. That boy lifting that wooden sword to the sky certainly did not seem to be a last memory, that much was for sure. He was chosen, and the others were selected out of sheer desperation, as the Usurper was at the door?

If that was the case, then how exactly was God able to determine that he was the best option to be connected to? Considering everything, would the Heavenly Father not want to choose the best warrior amongst the options to connect to? Why him? His statement felt like nothing more than sweet lies designed to entice him, to make him believe every word that came out of their mouth.

Yet… Why? What would be the benefit of doing such a thing? There were so many things that were absolutely wrong with all of this, yet there were no explanations. In any case, the only thing he could do was continue on the righteous path of destroying any and all threats to the world. He would be the savior, the hero that would bring order back to this chaotic and cursed world.

Though, first things first…

He looked around to find out where the Spartan could have gone. He was pleasantly pleased to find his ally sitting down on that red stone slab, yawning and clearly bored out of his mind.

“Did anything happen while I was down?”

His ally blinked, before turning towards him with a raised eyebrow.

“No, absolutely not. What do you think could have happened while you were resting? There isn’t exactly an exit door to this place, you know.”

“Well, I had thought you would have maybe…”

“Left you behind?” The Spartan asked incredulously, “Really now, after I took the time to give the last bit of divinity to you and prevent your death? What kind of image do you have of me?”

“One that I am sorely thinking over now.” The Crusader growled as he began to get up, “I still have some words for you.”

“If this is about you taking in the divinity, then understand that there was no other course of action. That–”

“I’m thankful for what you did.”

He could not deny the fact that watching his ally do a double-take was a bit hilarious. The man blinked and opened his mouth rather wide, before shaking his head and chuckling.

“Ah. Well, I guess you must have saw something that changed your mind then?”

Flashes of his meeting with God and his doubt rang through his head. He returned the chuckle, before getting up.

“Suppose in a way, yes.”

“Then, let’s get going.”

“Going?” The Crusader raised an eyebrow, “How exactly are we going to leave?”

The Spartan chuckled, before waving his hand. In that instant, a portal formed right in front of them, before leading to the streets that were now free of fog.”

“Like that. Now come, we’ve got a town to free.”

He couldn’t help but smirk at that. His great sword was picked up, and he got ready to march out once more. That tower wench may have tried to lie to them to get them stuck in a death trap, but she had shown them some hope: other people still lived in this town. Now they had a goal in mind, at least until they had to march out to head towards the Usurper once more.

Though, this was all fine. He would get the chance to see just how much stronger he had gotten from returning those blessings. Not only that, but he did need to get new armaments. His armor was broken apart, after all.

Whatever the case, he wasn’t so worried about the path forward anymore. The two of them were going to do just fine. Things were looking up for the world, at least for this time.